Earphones
by ty.soglasna
Summary: Everyone is back at Hogwarts from Christmas break, and Ginny can’t ignore Hermione’s new muggle machine…or Hermione herself, apparently. GWHG femslash.
1. Earphones

DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter is not mine, nor are any of the characters in this story, and no copyright infringement is intended. etc etc.

**Warnings:** Very very mild femslash (gets less mild in ensuing chapters!) and a little moderately strong language.

A/N: This one is a bit AU I guess, only because I don't think they had ipods in nineties when Harry Potter takes place. It just didn't seem the same with a CD player...yeah, I have no excuses.

Earphones

It was the second day of the new term, and all the Gryffindors were gathered in the common room, playing games and catching up with friends. Hermione, however, sat at the end of a couch, textbooks and scrolls of parchment covering the whole table in front of her. On her lap was a strange white box connected by a string to an equally strange white headband with fat circular things on each end covering most of her ears. Ginny sat curled up at the opposite end of the couch, ostensibly reading her History of Magic book.

In fact, she was watching Hermione surreptitiously, and had been for the past one and a half hours. Occasionally Hermione would look down at the box in her lap and stroke and prod at it, and then return to her work as though she were satisfied with the results of her prodding. The only thing was, Ginny couldn't see the box doing anything at all, no matter how hard she looked. The strange headband with the ear circles didn't seem to do anything either.

"Hermione, what is that thing?" she asked when her curiosity finally overwhelmed her. Hermione made no response except to turn the page in the book in front of her and begin underlining a passage in orange ink.

"Hermione!" Ginny stretched out her leg and prodded her friend in the side with her stocking foot.

At this Hermione looked up and flipped one of the circles off her ear. "Yeah, what?" She seemed to have not noticed that this was the second time Ginny had called her name.

"I said, what is that thing? It doesn't do anything, but you keep touching it, and you've had that band-thing on your head since I came down here!"

Hermione laughed. "It's called an ipod; it plays music. Want to listen?" she asked, taking off the headband with its attached ear-things and handing it to Ginny. Ginny gingerly took it and put it on her head the way Hermione had had it on. To her surprise, she found that the pads that covered her ears were still warm from Hermione's body heat, and she smiled. Then Hermione stroked the box again, and all of a sudden a cascading drum beat filled Ginny's head. She snatched the headband off in shock and eyed it suspiciously.

"That was cool, but really weird….how does the music get into the eye-pod? And how does it get into my head?" She handed the headband back to Hermione and eyed her questioningly.

"It would take too long to explain how the music gets into it to a non-muggle…" Hermione started apologetically. "My mom doesn't even understand it, and she's about as muggle as they come. It's kind of like the radio, except not really."

Ginny nodded. They had a wizarding radio at the Burrow, and though it was much bigger, Ginny knew from her father that muggles were ingenious at making devices to do everything for them.

Hermione continued to explain, tilting the box to let Ginny see it better. "Here's the screen, it shows you a list of all the songs you can hear, and these are the earphones. The sound comes form them, not from inside your head." She pointed at the headband with the ear-circles.

"But if it's a muggle machine, then how does it work in Hogwarts?" asked Ginny.

"Well, that part took a bit work," admitted Hermione, blushing. By "a bit of work" she probably meant weeks of research and who knows what else.

"Basically, I just had to make it run off magic instead of electricity, and then it works fine. I've had since Christmas to work it out, so once I got here where we're able to do magic again, it was pretty easy to do." She explained matter-of-factly.

"That's really cool, Hermione," said Ginny. "Now that they see yours, all the muggle-born students will want you to do one for them!"

"Yeah, tell me about it. Dean says he has one he uses at home; now he wants his mother to owl it to him so I can fix it up." Hermione rolled her eyes and slipped the earphones back onto her head, and both girls returned to their reading.

Ginny read one immensely dry paragraph of the text, and then returned to her previous activity—scrutinizing Hermione.

The ear-circles – no, earphones – didn't cover Hermione's whole ear. There was a small corner of earlobe that remained exposed, right where her ear joined her head. Ginny found herself unable to ignore it. It looked so soft and vulnerable, compared to the rest of the ear which was hidden under the hard earphone, and just begged to be kissed. _What? No it didn't, _Ginny told herself_. It begged no such thing. And it was not cute. Right…not cute at all, and certainly not sexy. No, not in any way._

Ginny looked back down at her book, but felt her gaze inextricably pulled back toward Hermione. She had stroked the front of the box again, and now she was bobbing her head rhythmically and mouthing words to herself. Ginny gave up on History of Magic and settled back into her corner of the couch to watch Hermione. Why did she have to be so pretty? And why did she have to study in such an overtly sexy way?? The soft earlobe-corner was calling out to Ginny again. It wanted to be kissed, and nibbled, and licked….Ginny looked around the common room to see if anyone else had was being affected by the extreme sexiness that was emanating from the other side of the couch. The rest of the students, however, were totally oblivious, carrying on with their conversations as if nothing at all were happening.

Ginny marveled at them, and then turned back to her book. She watched Hermione over the cover, enthralled. Suddenly, she couldn't contain herself any longer. She launched herself across the couch to Hermione's side, and attached her lips to the exposed bit of ear, sucking it gently. Just as fast, reality hit her, and she realized what she was doing. Almost before Hermione had had a chance to react, Ginny had shot across to the other end of the couch, pressing her hand against her mouth.

"Hermione, I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me!" she babbled incoherently. _Oh shit oh shit oh shit that was soooooo not ok. What was I thinking??_

Hermione had stopped bobbing her head, and look slightly flushed. She turned toward Ginny and arched one brow. "You were saying?"

Ginny was even more flustered. "Your ear, it was just sticking out like that, distracting me, and I couldn't help it…I'm really sorry, Hermione, that was way out of line!"

Hermione pushed the earphones off her head and abandoned the ipod, moving over to Ginny's end of the couch. "So you're saying that you just _accidentally_ kissed my ear, without meaning to, just because it was _there_?"

"Yeah, basically, and with the earphones it was just impossible not to…" Ginny trailed off, embarrassed.

"Well, then, I'll just have to wear earphones around you more often, then." Hermione proclaimed decisively, with a satisfied smirk, and she slid back to her side of the couch and deliberately placed them again over her ears.

-fin-

review and I'll give you organic fair-trade chocolate bars!!


	2. A Pop Culture Reference

**Disclaimer: ** The disclaimer from the previous chapter still holds. Please go back and read it if you're considering suing me, or if you like reading disclaimers.

**Note d'auteur:** Well, I finally crawled out of my cave and wrote another chapter for this. Hope you all enjoy! I'm thinking that after this there will be around two or three more chapters until the end. (Provided I don't get severe writer's block again. ugh.)

Chapter 2: A Pop Culture Reference

"Here's one that always makes me feel like, um... doing it," Lavender offered. Ginny listened to the song with a critical attention.

"Lavender, this is a song about party drugs; it doesn't even mention sex or anything."

"What??" gasped Hannah, who was sitting on the other bed. Clearly, this was news to her.

"Yup," said Ginny. "I mean, you might be able to interpret it multiple ways, but I have it from a reliable source that it is definitely more about the drugs than the sex. We need something totally unambiguous."

Lavender looked put out at having her contribution rejected so summarily, and Ginny could hear her mumble "But it's a fantastic song," as she wracked her brain for another one.

The girls were listening to songs on their wands, which Ginny thought was altogether a much more convenient method than any muggle pod. The charm to store a song on one's wand was fairly easy, and among the first real magic that first years learned when they came to Hogwarts. (Though from older students, rather than in the classroom.) Mrs. Weasley had not been entirely pleased when she found out Ginny was using her wand in this way – her reaction was something to the effect of "I hope you don't do anything that might break the brand new wand we just spent Galleons on for you!" But it was perfectly harmless, of course, and far too convenient to give up. All it took was another simple charm to play the music directly in your head, or broadcast it aloud. No need for a tangle of wires and headbands…although that certainly had its upsides too….

"Here, try this." Lavender, said, interrupting Ginny's train of thought. She started playing the next song, and the other girls all crowded around to listen.

"What is this even about?" Parvati asked, puzzled. "All she does is keep singing 'Umbrella', over and over. It makes no sense!"

"Agreed!" said Ginny. "I don't care if you think it's romantic, Lav; if it makes no sense then it's no good."

Lavender pouted. "Fine, if anyone else has a better suggestion, feel free. My music is clearly inferior."

Ginny sighed. "That's not what I meant! I just don't want to mess this up, you know?"

There was general agreement among the girls that it was of paramount importance that Ginny not mess this up, seduction being a tricky and precarious art, apt to go awry at the least provocation.

"Ok, I have one," said Parvati, after a while. "Here, listen."

"What? This is worse than the others!" exclaimed Ginny violently, about forty seconds into the song.

Parvati looked offended. "How can you say that? This one is the best so far; it's absolutely clear that it's about sex."

"Yeah, but I want to seduce her, not call her virtue into question! Besides, this song applies way better to, say, Lavender, than to Hermione."

"Her _virtue_?" Lavender cocked an eyebrow, pointedly ignoring the last half of Ginny's remark.

"Yeah, whatever, it just sets the wrong tone, you know?"

"I know exactly what you mean, Ginny," Hannah contributed, helpfully.

The next few songs were rejected just as fast, for various reasons.

"This one might work, except they're saying 'sexy _boy_.' Hermione was a girl, last time I checked…"

"Um, is this even in English?" Ginny asked, puzzled.

"Well, no, mostly it's in Chinese, but the important part is in English anyway, and it's a really great song…" Hannah rationalized.

"Her _humps_? Who would ever come up with a song that crude?"

"Yeah, you don't want her to think that what you feel for her is carnal lust alone, Ginny," said Parvati, rolling her eyes. Hannah started giggling uncontrollably, and soon they were all collapsed on the beds, weak from laughter. Parvati calmed down enough to say, "She might actually like to know, Ginny, if you do like her breasts that much. Might be a disservice to her not to use this song!" Ginny aimed a pillow at Parvati, and soon they were all laughing again.

Half an hour, and many songs, later, they had still come up with nothing satisfactory, and Lavender and Parvati had started to complain that Ginny's standards were too high; the song she was looking for did not exist.

"Just one more, then I swear I'll just pick one," Ginny said, conciliatorily. They all listened in rapt attention to the last song.

"This is the one!" Ginny exclaimed finally, with the air of one who has just discovered the Holy Grail sitting in their cupboard.

"This?" said Hannah, doubtfully. "But all it is is _'I just wanna feel your body, touch my body, …feel my body…'_ again and again! Not the most subtle song in the world, is it?"

"Catchy!" was Lavender's contribution, and Parvati nodded agreement.

"Yeah," agreed Ginny, "but it really can't be too un-subtle. I don't want to give Hermione a chance of ignoring it, and there's no way she could possibly misinterpret this one!"

Parvati nodded sage agreement again. Then there was a muffled "eeep!" from the other bed; Hannah had just cast a Tempus charm, and was now scrambling to gather all her things, at breakneck speed. "Sorry guys, I have to go now or else I'll miss curfew!"

Parvati rolled her eyes. "You have at least half an hour before curfew starts, Hannah! How long does it take to get to Hufflepuff from here - ten minutes at most?"

Hannah's face reddened slightly. "Still, you can't be too sure." She was already hurrying out of the room. "Bye guys, see you tomorrow! Good luck, Ginny!"

"Thanks!" Ginny called after her, and then turned back to her other friends.

Lavender and Parvati scooted closer to Ginny on the bed, closing the circle. It would have been redundantly clear to anyone walking in the dorm at that moment that these girls were Conspiring Something Important. "So, all set for tomorrow?" Lavender asked in an appropriately conspiratorial tone.

"Yeah, I think so," said Ginny. She ticked off items on her mental list one by one. "Obtain song that will make Hermione want to jump me. Play this song in her vicinity, while wearing a really sexy outfit. Act…um…generally seductive. Wait for miraculous results. Repeat as necessary," she added, self-consciously.

"Perfect, Ginny, there's no way this will fail," said Parvati, encouragingly. Ginny didn't blame Parvati for believing in the power of The Plan; after all, they had all helped come up with it.

"Oh, wait, I almost forgot to give you the song," said Lavender. Ginny held out her wand, and Lavender touched the tip of her own wand to Ginny's, murmuring the charm as she did so. "There. All done."

"Thanks, Lav," said Ginny gratefully. "You guys really helped a lot; I had no idea what to do…"

"No problem!" Lavender gave Ginny a quick hug and kiss on the cheek. "Maybe you could return the favor sometime." Seeing Ginny's look, she hastened to add, "Not right now, obviously! You have your own problems to think about right now; mine can wait!"

Parvati said goodbye as well, and then they both went down to their own dormitory, leaving Ginny alone. She really was glad they had come on such short notice, and they had been really helpful, ultimately. Well, it had taken them a while to get down to business; first they had had to hear the story of what had happened in the common room, repeatedly and in great detail. Ginny had dutifully reported the whole story: that she had been studying, but got distracted by Hermione listening to music, and then she had – accidentally! – sort of kissed her on the ear, after which she had endured several awkward moments on the couch, before escaping up to her dorm, where she had sent urgent notices via Pigwidgeon to her friends, saying a personal crisis was under way and could they come and help now?

They had then spent several more minutes parsing Hermione's enigmatic response to the kiss, and the general consensus was that she was definitely interested, but not enough to actually make a move. "Open to the possibility of something more, but not ready to actually do anything to make it happen," was Lavender's learned opinion. Having more experience in these matters than all the younger Gryffindor girls put together, her opinion was one to be trusted.

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Ginny wasn't about to let Hermione sit around and wait for Ginny to come to her, though. As she saw it, there were only two possible outcomes to tonight's – whatever had happened in the common room. Either she could never mention it again, and hope the ensuing awkwardness between the two of them would fade before she left Hogwarts, or she could take this – whatever it was, and run with it. The worst that could happen this way was certainly no worse than the consequences of taking no action at all, and the best was far better. Ginny smirked. She had liked Hermione for quite some time now, and now the time to act on her feelings had finally come. Hermione would never know what had hit her.

-fin-

In case you were curious, here is a list of the songs they were listening to in the beginning of this chapter (yes, I did have actual songs in mind!)

**Song List: **(in order of mention) As the Rush Comes - Motorcycle; Umbrella - Rihanna; Promiscuous Girl – Nelly Furtado; Sexy Boy - Air; Superstar – S.H.E.; My Humps – Black Eyed Peas; Don't Be Shy – Rouge (I luuuuuuurve this song; I did a dance to it for a show and it was !awesome!)

**Review replies!** (note: I've decided that this clutters up the bottom of a story too much, and as much as I like to respond to everyone's review in one place, it really is more convenient to reply to them individually, so I'll be doing that from now on. I can only reply to your review if it's not anonymous though, hint hint!)

Everhart13 - Thank you for the vote of confidence; luckily I got some ideas finally and don't need tons of other ones (for the time being!)

Cloogle - Thanks a million; funny + cute equals awesome fluffy femslash, which is what I aspire to lol! I do plan on writing more HGGW; they're a fun pair to play around with.

Padfoot Reincarnated - I could not agree with you more! There needs to be more femslash everywhere, in general, as well, tehe : ) (ps I love your username - yay padfoot!)

PlaneAmage - Here's what happens! hope it lives up to your expectations; I didn't really have any since I had no idea where this one was going when I started it...

Vampslayer08 - Hmmmm...really heavy flirting...something tells me this will be coming up in the next chapter! yay for suggestions; I think what you said is pretty much what ends up happening! (oops, not to give too much away too soon)

Chibichoco - Thanks!! I really love making people laugh, so yours was a very happy-making review : )

Anna - See, this is what I mean by someone who leaves anonymous, unsigned reviews, guys. This is the type of person who will NEVER RECIEVE A REPLY AGAIN, under my newly-instated policy. Look and learn. Also, wtf? I don't think there's anything wrong with saying "one and a half hours," and I get to make the rules, since I'm the author, NAH[(cue in the Marie-Laure impish attitude. No one says "Nah!" like she does, verily) (um, ps, this is my sister, guys, so that's why I'm allowed to treat her this way. we love each other very much, don't worry!!)

Kerrzs - Here's another chapter, finally! (probably everyone gave up on this fic months ago :P) I don't think it's entirely like the first one, but hopefully it'll do!

Cooltrainer124 - Thanks! I didn't forget all of you who wanted me to keep going with this one; it just took me a while to get back in the mood for it ; )

Tom.K.A. - Ok, ok, I continued! Please don't beg on your knees anymore; it might get uncomfortable! lol : )

Ogis - wow, you reviewed, like forever ago, and I never replied to it until now! Talk about a time difference in communication, mdr. Did you recognize any of the songs in this chapter?? I absolutely know you know at least four of them, but then again the hints are practically non-existent... but see, this is what happens when people go away for weeks at a time and are unavailable to do song stuff with...it just ends up getting channeled into other venues, with questionable results...; ) (gros bisous!)


	3. Seduction 101

Wow, this is _totally_ not what I was planning to write last night. At least this means I don't have writer's block on everything, right?

Warnings: Actions performed with femslash-oriented intentions; talk of cleavage; tiny bit of language. Moderate blood & gore. (No, not really on the last one. I just have too much fun with warnings, sometimes...)

3. Seduction 101

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The next evening, Ginny began to lay the groundwork for her scheme. She rushed up to her dorm as soon as they got back from supper to change clothes. Luckily no one noticed; if they had, they would probably have thought it odd for her to be putting on new clothes just to study in. She selected an outfit that she considered appropriately revealing, in a seductive way (she didn't _quite_ trust her judgment, but she didn't want to risk going down to consult Lavender either; it might make her look suspicious.)

Once down in the common room, she positioned herself strategically in a chair behind where Hermione was studying at her favorite table, so that she could see the screen of her eye-pod from where she was sitting. She had roped a baffled Dean Thomas into explaining how it worked, and he had demonstrated on his own until she was pretty sure she understood at least what the screen showed. Indeed, the only factor out of Ginny's control was whether Hermione would be studying in the common room at all, but that wasn't _really_ uncertain. This was Hermione, after all.

Ginny pretended to study, but she was really just waiting for the common room to empty out a bit so that she could spring into action. It would be no good for her brother, or even worse, Harry, to notice. Hermione, of course, actually was studying. She had the earphones on again, and was obviously enjoying her music. She appeared to be writing only one essay right now, but she had about five books open on the table in front of her which she periodically referred to.

Ginny amused herself by watching her. Who knew that it was possible to study in a sexy way? That's what Hermione did, though Ginny doubted she knew she was doing it. It was precisely that totally unselfconscious, absorbed, off-in-her-own-world look that she got that was so fascinating.

An hour or two later, people had begun to go to bed, and Hermione was still studying. Parvati whispered "Good luck!" to Ginny as she passed her on the way to the stairs, and Lavender gave her a surreptitious thumbs-up. It was now or never. Ginny craned her neck so that she could see the display of Hermione's eye-pod, and noted that she was halfway through the song she was listening to. If she had read the little bar correctly, that was. This whole thing depended on perfect timing, or else the mood would be ruined.

Ginny waited until Hermione's song was almost over, and then drew her wand and silently snuck up behind her. This part was the most dicey, depending on quick reflexes and stealth, but she, Lavender, Parvati, and Hannah had practiced it plenty the night before. She dropped one arm around Hermione's shoulders, and leaned over to look at what she was working on.

"Hi, Hermione," she said in a low voice, very close to her ear.

"Oh, hi, Ginny," said Hermione, apparently finding it hard to twist around and see Ginny's face in such close quarters.

Ginny made it easier for her by leaning forward, taking the opportunity to check the song-bar at the same time. _Almost time…_

"So… how's the studying going?" Ginny suddenly realized a glaring flaw in her plan: she hadn't any idea what to do once she got to this point. The important part was playing the song at the right moment, but she couldn't do anything in the meantime that would make her look suspicious. She shifted her arm on Hermione's shoulders, (just in case she might have forgotten it was there) and tried to feign a look of casual interest, instead of the nervous anticipation she really felt.

"Oh, pretty well, though I expect it'll take an hour more at least; I just finished this Potions essay, but I have one for Transfigurations to write for the day after tomorrow, and I should probably review my Charms notes just in case we have a pop quiz tomorrow; you never know when those will happen…"

Ginny kept her eye on the bar as she smiled and nodded along with Hermione. It was really so cute, how obsessed with academics she was. The second that the song ended, several things happened simultaneously. Ginny kissed Hermione on the cheek and gave her shoulders a squeeze, while surreptitiously detaching the earphone cable from the pod-box with her free hand, where Hermione couldn't see it. Dean had assured her that this would stop the music from going into the earphones. Ginny let her lips linger on Hermione's cheek for a moment, while she dropped her arm from around the other girl's shoulders to touch her wand tip to Hermione's own, which stuck out of her back pocket. Another tap of the wand and a muttered charm (muttered against Hermione's neck, where she couldn't hear it, but could certainly feel it….the point was seduction here, after all!) ensured that the song started to play in Hermione's head, although hopefully she would think it was coming from the earphones and not be unduly suspicious.

Ginny moved away at last, trailing her hand across Hermione's shoulders as she walked around to the other side of the table. She set her book down with a heavy plunk, and began reading as though nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. _Mustn't appear to be trying too hard, of course – don't want to scare her off before I get going... _And anyway, the song didn't get to the really suggestive part until the first refrain, and she wanted to give it plenty of time to give Hermione ideas, like it was supposed to.

She did make sure to lean very far over her book though, in order to take full advantage of the v-neck shirt she was wearing. She glanced down to check the effect, and found herself, depressingly enough, seeing straight down to stomach. _Great,_ Ginny thought sarcastically, _now Hermione's just going to think I'm some desperate, skinny, flat-chested wannabe who can't even pick out a bra that works, and who will clearly never be worthy of her attentions. _She tried to inconspicuously arrange her arms so as to produce a cleavage, but soon gave it up as a lost cause. Oh well; cleavage or no, the show must go on.

Ginny flipped a page in the book in front of her, pretended to read it with rapt attention for a moment, and then looked up through her eyelashes at Hermione, lazily twirling a strand of hair between her fingers. She saw Hermione's eye flick quickly up and then back to her essay, and she allowed herself a small, satisfied smile. So far, it was working.

The next time Ginny looked up, she definitely caught Hermione staring, and she daringly winked at her before she let her eyes fall again. Sure that she had reeled her in, now, and knowing that further attempts at eye contact would only give the brunette an excuse to look away, Ginny exaggeratedly licked her finger in order to turn the page she was reading. _Not that that's even necessary; it actually kind of makes it harder to turn pages. _She told her rational side to go get lost until it had something useful to contribute; and went back to concentrating on the serious business at hand.

Having exhausted the seductive possibilities posed by "reading", Ginny "absently" reached up to rub the muscles of her neck, gradually sliding her hand under the fabric of her shirt. This was actually something she did this all the time when she was reading and not paying attention to much else, but she also could imagine what it must look like to an outside observer.

Lavender and Parvati had both agreed that there was nothing worse than being misinterpreted, and too much was always better than too little. Embarrassment was thus a complete non-factor right now; she didn't care how over-the-top her efforts might be, as long as she packed as much as was humanly possible into the length of the song.

_The song! Oh shit, it must be almost done now! _Ginny realized, with a sinking feeling, that she had no idea what she was going to do when the song ended and Hermione realized that Ginny had sabotaged her eye-pod. Oh well, in any case that didn't change the general strategy as of right now. Cross that bridge when you come to it and all that.

Ginny continued to slowly massage her shoulder under her shirt, and looked up at Hermione through her lashes again. Hermione did not even bother to disguise her stare, this time; Ginny thrilled at the knowledge that the plan had worked. That song was _clearly_ giving Hermione ideas. Ginny schooled her features into a sly grin, and slipped the neck of her shirt off the edge of her shoulder, keeping her eyes locked with Hermione's the whole time. Hermione's gaze followed the downwards path of the shirt collar avidly, and her face grew noticeably pinker. Ginny grinned wider, and glanced down at the exposed skin and then back up at the quickly-reddening Hermione. _Forget embarrassing, this is pretty fun! I could get used to this… Feel my body touch your body…feel my body…_ She tried to beam the words to Hermione through her eyes, just for good measure. _That is indeed a most lascivious song_, she thought. _I'll have to remember to thank Lavender for it. Catchy, too._

She wasn't quite sure what happened next, but her best guess was that she had begun to sing the lyrics out loud, which was clearly too much for Hermione's overloaded brain. Hermione sprung from her chair, jarring the table rather violently, and with a muffled "Night, Ginny!" she gathered up her pod and turned and fled up the stairs to the girls' dormitory, disconnected wire flying behind her. She had left without even gathering up her school supplies, which was highly uncharacteristic of the older girl and bespoke a greatly agitated state of mind.

Ginny got up in a more relaxed fashion and went to the other side of the table; all in all, her attempt at seduction could have gone much worse. At the very least, it was a step in the right direction; she had succeeded in getting Hermione to exit the common room in much the same manner she herself had done the night before. Not that this was a contest, or anything…quite a few other possible outcomes sprang to mind which she would have considered just as successful, on the whole.

Rifling through the other girl's abandoned things, Ginny spotted Hermione's nearly-finished Potions essay. Grinning to herself, she dipped the discarded quill in the open pot of ink, and carefully drew a heart in the margins, enclosing a stylized "HGGW". She was especially proud of how she had connected the two G's, making them intertwine about one another to link their initials together. _Just in case she somehow failed to get the message before._ And this way, Hermione would have no possible way to pretend that nothing had happened, even if she wanted to.

Ginny turned to go up to the dormitory herself, but then hesitated. Impulsively, she grabbed Hermione's Transfigurations textbook from the pile of heavy books on the table, and added it to her own, much smaller pile of books in her arm. _You never know when something like this might come in handy…_

With that, she headed up to her own dormitory, still feeling irrationally giddy. Nothing had actually happened for her to be this happy about….

Nevertheless, she paused to blow a kiss at the door to Hermione's room, which was on the floor below her own, as she passed it on the stairs, and couldn't keep herself from grinning. When she crawled into her own bed a few minutes later, she slid the purloined textbook under her pillow, and fell asleep plotting. Tomorrow could not come fast enough…

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See that periwinkle button down there? Wanna click it??

In case you were wondering, here's the music video of the song that Ginny was playing. Mmmm...all I have to say is, it's a good thing that Hermione doesn't have a video iPod, or else she might have been too distracted...did I mention that I love this song??!! http // www . youtube . com / watch?vbVUEOfKH-mI&featurerelated (copy/paste and remove spaces. &#$$ing fanfiction . net and their stringent anti-spamming policies!!!)


	4. Mixing Messages with an Eggbeater

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Panaru Fuhen, who read and reviewed chapter 3 within, literally, 15 minutes of me having posted it, and who really likes fast updates. That was pretty cool. (Seriously, how did you _do_ that??) Oh, and thanks to everyone else who's reviewed so far!! Happiness!

4. Mixing Messages with an Eggbeater

Ginny woke up with a crick in her neck. She sat up gingerly, and kneaded at the back of her neck with one hand, blinking groggily. She pushed open her bed curtains and reached for her wand which was lying where she had left it, on her bedside table. It had to be pretty early still, from the fact that the curtains on all four other beds in the room were shut tight – even on Artemis's bed, and she was always an early riser…

Ginny yawned and padded off for the showers. Well, she was up now, and she might as well stay up.

By the time she got out from the bathroom, she was feeling a little bit more awake, and only two of her roommates were still asleep. She checked the time and found it to be just after six, and usually she wasn't even awake before seven...It wasn't often that she had free time before breakfast, and she wondered idly what she could do with herself until then.

Then her eyes lit on Hermione's textbook, her prize from last night. She put her wet hair up in a magically warmed towel and flopped down on her bed with Hermione's book open in front of her. She flipped through it at random, hoping to find enlightening, or at least amusing, markings, but Hermione was apparently a firm believer in the sanctity of the blank margin.

The only places that Ginny could find writing were the title page, where she had written _Hermione Jane Granger_ in her crisp, efficient cursive, and on page 142, where there was a crudely drawn Chudley Cannons logo, followed by _Are the best team EVER_, in her brother's handwriting. Under this, in Hermione's hand, was written, _No, they clearly are not, Ron, and please stop writing in other people's books_; and under that was Ron's hand again: _Sorry, thought this was Harry's_, followed by Hermione's _You just said that, you don't need to write it too! _Which was where the conversation had apparently ended.

Ginny couldn't find anything else interesting in the book, so she grabbed a scrap of parchment off her table, wrote a quick note, and slipped it between the pages. She debated on where to put it for a moment, not wanting to put it in some part of the book that Hermione had already read. She settled for a place near the end of the book, reasoning that if everyone else in the class was in the middle of the book (it was the middle of the academic year, after all,) then Hermione would be significantly ahead of them. And if she never found it – well, it wasn't anything urgent or time sensitive, really.

Ginny was standing in front of the mirror, braiding her speedily dried hair, when there was a knock on the door of her room. The curtains were still tightly drawn two of the beds in the room, and sounds of water and muffled singing from across the hall indicated that the others were still in the shower, so Ginny answered.

"Come in!"

The door inched open and Hermione stuck her head in. "Oh, hi, Ginny, I didn't know if you would be awake." She was whispering, probably in a misguided attempt to not wake anyone up.

Ginny freed a hand from her hair and waved Hermione in. "Don't worry about them, they won't wake up until ten minutes before class, no matter what happens. Natural disaster, troll, gong – no effect." Ginny smiled wryly and returned to braiding.

Hermione chuckled, and gave up whispering. "Where's everybody else?" she asked, sitting down gingerly on the edge of Ginny's bed.

"In the shower."

"Together?" Hermione squeaked.

"You wish," joked Ginny. She saw Hermione turn slightly pink through the mirror, but the other girl recovered fast.

"Mmmm, indeed….what _better_ way to start the day than with a nice, hot, lesbian shower?"

Ginny choked and giggled. She had to find a way to draw out this new, snarky side of Hermione more often.

"So, the reason I came here was to ask you if you'd seen my Transfigurations book anywhere," continued Hermione, without missing a beat. Ginny giggled again, tied off the end of her hair, and joined Hermione on the bed.

"What makes you think I'd know?" she said, making her eyes wide and innocent.

"Oh, just thought I'd check, is all," Hermione replied nonchalantly, grinning.

"Well, as it turns out, I do happen to have a certain Transfigurations text right here…" Ginny reached under her pillow and pulled out the book.

"Why you…!" Hermione's eyes flashed and she launched herself toward the hitherto missing book. "Give that back!"

Ginny backed up against the headboard of the bed and hugged the book to herself. "What'll you give me for it, then?"

Hermione subsided back to where she had been sitting and crossed her arms. "That's not fair, it's my book in the first place. I don't have to give you anything!"

Ginny cocked her head to the side in an exaggerated gesture of consideration. "Oh, I think you do…I captured this book fair and square, and that means I get to hold it ransom."

"Oh, fine, what do you want for it?" Hermione asked. Apparently she was not prepared to have an argument over whether one could fairly demand ransom for a textbook.

Ginny pretended to consider the question. She knew what she wanted to say, but the questsion was, did she dare? There might be such a thing as pushing one's luck a little _too_ far. But then again, hadn't Hermione been flirting with her just now? _Very possibly, yes...unless she doesn't even know what she's doing._

"In return for this book, I demand the price of…one kiss," she found herself saying, before she had entirely decided. She couldn't help grinning triumphantly, though, when she saw the look on Hermione's face, was one of pink shock.

Sighing a bit, as though resigned to her fate, she said, "Very well, that seems a fair enough price. Now?" She looked around.

"When you're ready," said Ginny. She wouldn't appreciate being pushed too fast if she were Hermione, and having won the far better side of the bargain, in her opinion, she was feeling generous.

Hermione cast one more glance at the curtained beds across the room, and then scooted up the bed to where Ginny was sitting. Ginny felt an eruption of butterflies in her stomach, and wondered, fleetingly, what was the proper way to receive a ransom kiss. She settled for leaning forward slightly to meet Hermione, who was leaning in as well, somewhere in the middle. Hermione raised one hand to Ginny's shoulder, and their faces were mere inches apart – Ginny felt herself holding her breath – and then the door banged open and Artemis and Lori walked in, wearing towels and talking loudly among themselves.

Silence fell. Hermione hastily tried to pretend that she had been going to brush something off Ginny's shirt the whole time, and Ginny tried to play along, for her sake. The cheeky, bold Hermione clearly only came out when she thought no one else was looking. Ginny handed her the book. "Here, you can have this now. You don't have to pay me back this instant; I know you won't forget." Ginny smiled a bit regretfully, and Hermione mouthed _Thank you_, and took the book.

"I'll see you at lunch, then, Ginny," she said in a louder voice, getting up from the bed.

She pushed past Ginny's dorm mates, who were still standing by the door, staring, and went down the stairs to her own dorm in a clatter.

"What was that, Ginny?" Artemis asked, turning to face Ginny with arched eyebrows. "It looked like you two were going to kiss, for a minute there."

"And so what if we were?" Ginny retorted crossly. She hated to be interrupted, and she hated how thoroughly the other girls had killed the mood, without even trying.

They muttered apologies as they went off to change, but Ginny only glowered darkly. Then she cheered up slightly at the thought that Hermione still owed her a kiss, at some point, so things couldn't be so bad.

Ginny sat with Harry, Ron, and Neville at lunch. She would have sat with Hermione, but the other girl had yet to make an appearance. Hermione finally showed up in the last ten minutes of lunch time, and hastily grabbed some sandwiches without sitting down.

Ginny said a quick goodbye to her friends, and jumped up to follow Hermione out of the hall. "Hi, Hermione," she said, cheerily, as she finally pulled abreast of her friend in the entrance hall.

"Oh, hi Ginny." Hermione sounded harried, and she didn't slow her brisk walk toward the Charms hallway.

Ginny jogged a step to keep up. "Is anything the matter?" she asked, peering into her face.

Hermione managed to pull a tense smile that didn't reach her eyes. "I'm just tired, that's all." They hurtled on without talking for a little while. "Sorry I wasn't at lunch," Hermione offered.

Ginny frowned. "That's ok; you're obviously in a hurry…"

Hermione accepted this in silence, and didn't say anything else until they reached the door of what Ginny supposed was her next class. "Well, I guess I'll see you later, ok?" Her smile almost managed to reach her eyes this time, but it looked no less forced.

"Ok," said Ginny, a bit uncertainly. Why was Hermione acting like this all of a sudden? Ginny would have thought it was something she did, but Hermione had been laughing along with her jokes just this morning, perfectly at ease…Had one of Ginny's roommates said something to upset her? She didn't think they would, but it was worth checking, just in case…

She made her way to her own classroom, and resolved not to take it personally. Maybe Hermione was just tired and in a hurry, like she had said.

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Hermione had walled herself in with books over dinner, and she was doing the same thing now at her usual table in the common room. Undaunted, Ginny picked up her things and went over to join her, sharing knowing looks with Parvati as she crossed the common room. She set down her books and the star chart she was working on for Divination, and greeted Hermione cheerily.

Hermione glanced up from her work, flashed her teeth in something that was not a smile, and looked back down again, never stopping her furious scribbling on the parchment in front of her.

Ginny told herself it was ridiculous to feel hurt over this; maybe she was just having a really bad day…

"So, how was your day?" she asked in a conversational tone, opening Unfogging the Future to the section on astrology.

"Ok," said Hermione noncommittally, erasing something on her parchment.

"Did you learn anything interesting?" That question was usually a guaranteed conversation-starter with Hermione, even on weekends when there weren't classes.

"Not really," said Hermione, her tone becoming frosty.

Ginny opted for sympathy. Misery loves company, right? "Oh, really? That sucks; I hate it when all my classes are boring…"

"Well, they can't all very well be blindingly interesting all the time, can they? This is school, not the fun park."

_Ouch._ Maybe misery didn't love company, either. Ginny settled for silence for the time being, and turned to her star chart. Now, if Cassiopeia was in the house of Mars, on April the twelfth…she consulted her book, and found that this usually portended ill for those embarking on business endeavors, but it was considered an ideal time to conceive a child if left-handedness was valued by the parents…

A few minutes later, Hermione looked visibly more relaxed – at least, she wasn't jamming her quill quite so hard into the parchment as she punctuated sentences, and her shoulders looked infinitesimally less tense.

Ginny tried to start up conversation again. "Did you know that Firenze said we'd have good weather for the next Hogsmeade weekend?"

"No," Hermione grunted, without looking up from her essay.

"Well, he's been showing us the Centaurs' weather divination for the past few weeks, and it's really reliable. I mean, it can't get really specific or anything, like how much rain will fall or what temperature it will be, you know, but it nearly always right with the general trends…"

Grunt.

Ginny continued, becoming absorbed in the story. "Yeah, so he's had us figure out a few days ourselves; it's not really that hard – of course, it gets harder the farther into the future you want to predict, until not even the Centaurs can know –"

Punctuate.

"So anyway, he predicted for Hogsmeade next weekend, since Colin asked him to, and it's supposed to be clear, and warmer than this week." Which Ginny was personally rather excited about; it had been quite cold and rather windy this week.

Heavy sigh.

"Isn't that exciting? It means we might actually be able to _survive_ the walk down to the village this time…" Ginny had painful memories of the last walk, in which the wind had nearly succeeded in freezing off her face.

Hermione clenched her quill and looked up, for the first time since Ginny had sat down. "Ginny, could you just leave me _alone_?"

Ginny's happy chatter was cut off in mid-flow, and she just stared at Hermione. The older girl closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. "Look, it's not you – I'm just really stressed out right now, and I don't feel like _talking_." This last word came out through gritted teeth. "With anyone," she added, as an afterthought, and bent tightly over her essay again, effectively blocking out all further communication.

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Angst! Angst! Angst!

(next chapter will be up in a few days; don't kill me!!)


	5. Seduction 201

A/N: Told you it would update soon! However, please do not, in any way, get used to this ridiculous updating schedule; I feel like my writer's block is still out there somewhere, just waiting to spring out of some dark alley and take me unawares...

Oh, and this chapter is dedicated to Collette1me, who knew exactly what that last chapter was about. Personally, and painfully, and through direct experiene, I'm afraid. Sooooorrry! This doesn't even make up for it, nor should it, but it's a nice gesture, right? Happy friday everyone!!!!!

Collette1me doesn't have to review because she gives me play-by-play feedback as she's reading these things, but can you say the same for yourself? mmmmmm? Lol, I do love getting reviews, but don't stress yourself out about it or anything...

5. Seduction 201

"Oh." said Ginny in a small voice, to the top of Hermione's head. The other girl had bent tightly over her essay again as soon as she had finished speaking, and was now punctuating with a vengeance. "I'll just be going, then…" she said, hurriedly picking up her chart and book.

She beat a quick retreat across the common room, and collapsed on a chair opposite Parvati, who was curled up by the fire reading a novel, with the feeling that she had just escaped a hurricane. Parvati looked up from her book and raised her eyebrows questioningly at Ginny, who grimaced. Clearly the older girl had been watching the drama unfolding at Hermione's table.

Ginny chanced a glance over her shoulder as well, and was glad to see that Hermione had put on her earphones, and was now ensconced behind a wall of sound as well as her wall of books. When Ginny spoke, though, it was in a low voice, as though afraid that Hermione could still hear her.

"Is anything wrong with Hermione today? She seems a bit…off."

"Hmmm…" Parvati tapped her fingers on the spine of her book. "Not that I can think of, no…" Ginny felt her stomach sink; maybe she had managed to screw things up with Hermione really badly after all. "No, wait," said Parvati, who had apparently kept thinking. "She just got her period this morning; she was complaining about having to rush back to Gryffindor Tower over lunch. Sometimes she gets a bit…you know…around that time…"

"Crabby? Stressed? Introverted?" Ginny supplied, and let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. So it _wasn't_ her fault, at least not entirely…

"I was going to say 'evil', actually," admitted Parvati. "You don't live in the same room with her!" she defended, when Ginny met this with an incredulous look.

Ginny returned to her star chart, and reflected on the events of the day under this new light. It made much more sense, now. She knew that Hermione was liable to mood swings at her time of the month – being friends with her, it was impossible not to know this – but she had forgotten to consider it this time, in her flood of worry that she had done something to offend her.

She winced when she thought back to how her cheery attempts at conversation must have seemed to the other girl - 'unwelcome' probably didn't even begin to cover it. Now that she knew, though, Ginny was sure she could handle a crabby, irritable Hermione just fine, but the possibility of mood swings still complicated things…Hermione had been all snarky and come-hither-y a few evenings ago, then she had been distant the next day, then she had been flirtatious again, and then distant, and then viciously angry.

Ginny shrugged. She would just have to pay really close attention to her friend and play it by ear for the next few days…unlike she had done up to this point. She just hoped that Hermione wouldn't stay mad at her once she was in a better mood; on the one hand, she really should have been able to tell that she was getting on her nerves, but on the other hand, Ginny hadn't actually done anything that would be considered rude under ordinary circumstances…

Harry and Ron entered the common room from the direction of the boys' dormitory with a clatter. Ron stooped and picked up the Fanged Frizbee that he dropped and added it in a haphazard pile with his school supplies. The two of them passed her armchair without stopping, and made a beeline for Hermione's corner, chatting animatedly.

Ginny launched herself out of her chair and got in front of them, blocking their passage to their friend. "Um…you really don't want to go over there right now," she said, casting a glance over her shoulder. Across the room, Hermione had somehow noticed them despite her heavy self-imposed isolation measures, and was regarding the interchange guardedly.

"Uh, why not?" asked Harry intelligently, following Ginny's gaze. Hermione glowered at him, and he quickly averted his eyes.

"She doesn't feel like company right now." Ginny hoped that this alone would get the message across; when Hermione didn't like to be talked to, she usually didn't appreciate being talked _about,_ either.

Ginny eventually managed to convince the boys that they really would rather play a game of exploding snap with her, instead of asking Hermione to help them with their homework (their original plan), and when she looked up, she thought she saw Hermione _smiling_ to herself. Ginny couldn't keep her lips from turning up in their own secret smile at this.

She had so _called_ it. Hermione was apparently only blisteringly angry when she had to deal with other people; Ginny suspected that she was perfectly happy when left alone to her work and her music. This was something Ginny could respect, and keeping people away from her was kind of fun, anyway.

Ginny fended off one more would-be irritant for Hermione before she finished up with her homework and went up to her dorm. By this time, the common room had emptied out entirely, save Hermione in her corner. She was now back to bobbing her head in time to an inaudible rhythm and mouthing words. _Mission accomplished. _Ginny smiled to herself as she tiredly climbed the stairs to her dorm. She just couldn't help feeling happy when Hermione was happy, and even more so when she had been the cause of it…

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The next day, Ginny was sitting at the Gryffindor table during morning break, catching up on some homework, when Hermione came over to her.

"Hey, Ginny," she said, sitting down next to the redhead.

"Oh, hi!" Ginny looked up and smiled. The older girl looked tired, but not as though she was about to bite anyone's head off. Ginny hazarded a guess that her mood had taken a swing for the better. "Tea?" She gestured toward her own steaming mug.

"I – yeah, sure," Hermione said, a bit flustered. "Actually, tea would be fantastic right now, thanks."

Within seconds, Ginny had retrieved a second mug, magically shrunken for ease of portability, from her bag. She restored it to its natural size with a tap of her wand and peered in, to find it crusted with what, at one point, had been hot chocolate. _Eeew, gross. I don't even remember leaving that in there…_ She cleaned it out with a muttered Scourgify, and hoped that Hermione didn't notice. She didn't want her to think Ginny the sort of person who would knowingly offer a friend a dirty mug.

Ginny turned and rummaged within her bag again. "Is Dragon tea ok? It's all I have."

"What kind is that?" Hermione asked, baffled.

Ginny wordlessly passed her the box, which did indeed sport a picture of a large green dragon on the front. (Which was currently rolling about luxuriously on an equally green, grassy swarth and blowing copious amounts of steam from its nostrils.)

"Oh, I see," said Hermione, raising her eyebrows. "All right, then."

Smiling, Ginny took the box back from her and deposited one of the teabags in the (now perfectly clean!) mug. And if her hand had _happened_ to brush Hermione's while she was taking the box, she was sure it was accidental. Hermione certainly didn't seem to notice it.

Ginny sent a jet of steaming water into the mug with her wand and sent the brewing tea floating across to her friend.

Hermione took the mug and leaned over it, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply. "Mmmm, this smells good," she said, her lips curling up in a smile. "Where did you learn to make the boiling water from?" she asked, after she had taken a sip of the tea.

"Mum," said Ginny succinctly, and then went back to the dreamy pleasure that was Watching Hermione Drink Tea. She had thought that Hermione might appreciate a nice cup of tea in the morning – who didn't? – but the way the other girl was savoring every sip spoke of something greater than mere enjoyment. Her hands were wrapped around the mug as if it were a lover, and she smiled blissfully after each sip. _If a cup of _tea_ has this strong of an effect on her, then I wonder how she'd react to _– But Ginny cut off her train of thought forcibly. Hermione was sitting _right there_, it wouldn't do to get distracted.

After a comfortable silence where Ginny went back to her homework and Hermione blissfully continued her quasi-orgasmic tea-drinking experience, the older girl put down her cup and took a breath, apparently deciding it was time to get around to saying what she had come to say.

"I want to apologize for the –"

"No need," Ginny interjected, at the same time as Hermione finished with, "way I snapped at you last night."

Hermione looked slightly cross at being interrupted, so Ginny wisely let her continue with her apology. "I feel really bad about it, I mean, I was in a really terrible mood, but I should have told you instead of lashing out like that. It's just that I get a bit…you know…when it's my time of the month. Sorry." She shrugged apologetically.

"Hermione, I totally understand. I should have been able to tell that you weren't in the most conversational of moods. And it's not your fault either, really." _No, it's the fault of an inescapable force of nature that asks no questions and takes no prisoners…_

"You're too sweet, honestly." Then a sparkle appeared in Hermione's eye as something apparently occurred to her. "And were you keeping people away from me _on purpose_ last night?"

Ginny smiled smugly, and nodded. "I can do it again if you need me to; I had quite the bit of fun doing it. Maybe we should work out a secret signal or something?"

"I – really? You would?" Hermione looked like she didn't quite believe the offer, and reached for her tea again.

Ginny nodded again.

"Um, alright…say, if I –" and she made an obscene hand gesture, by way of demonstration.

There was a crash as Ginny fell off the bench laughing. Hermione peered down with a look of concern as Ginny struggled back up. "I just thought, that if I was angry enough to not want to see anyone, that that might be the only gesture I'd really feel like making…I'd probably just think anything else was stupid and contrived, and feel stupid doing it…but if you think it's not a good idea…"

"No, no, it's a fine idea, just as long as we've worked out what it means in advance." She met Hermione's eyes appraisingly. "Promise me you'll use it, ok? I meant what I said." She had the feeling that Hermione was just going along with her plan to humor her, and she wanted her to know that she really did want to help.

Ginny was quite pleased, though, when Hermione made use of their system during dinner, to great success. Though to Neville's horror – he had tried to interrupt Hermione from the book she was reading, and he had apparently misinterpreted their signal as being aimed at him. Ginny had stepped in and distracted him with questions about some obscure plant's reproductive cycle, but she suspected that Hermione had already succeeded in scaring him off quite effectively. She only hoped that Hermione's bout of moodiness wouldn't last _too_ long; even if she now knew how to deal with scary Hermione, she wanted the nice Hermione back.

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Man, I wish I had a Ginny!


	6. Pay Attention, Now!

So, I was a little bit hesitant to just throw in a second POV character at this late stage of the story - you know, it's just not _done_. But then I decided to just go for it. (Foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, after all!) And anyway, there would be _no way_ we'd ever get to see this scene if I stuck to Ginny's POV...

6. Pay Attention, Now

Severus stalked back and forth in front of his sixth-year double Slytherin/Gryffindor potions class, lecturing on the complicated potion they were to make that day. Severus hated lecturing. If it had been his other sixth-year class, he would have simply slapped the instructions up on the board and let the students at it, complexity be damned. But his Slytherins were in this class, and he suspected that some of them risked failing rather embarrassingly if they did not receive step-by-step guidance before, during, and after brewing.

He reached the end of his circuit and punctuated his lecture with a question, then snapped around, giving himself a mental pat on the back as his robes swirled and billowed impressively around him. It was an art that had taken him some practice to master.

On the Gryffindor side of the room, Granger's hand shot up automatically. Severus ignored her for as long as he could, until it became obvious that no other students planned on raising their hands – that was the _other _thing he hated worse than lecturing: students who didn't raise their hands in class. And ones who did, for that matter. "Yes, Miss Granger?"

"I –" her certainty faltered. "Um, could you please repeat the question?" she asked, biting her lip and looking nervous.

It was a sight that could have warmed his heart, if he had one. Which he didn't of course; such things as hearts were the crutch of the weak.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor for coming unprepared to class," he enunciated, relishing every word.

Granger blanched and Severus let the smallest smirk play about the corner of his mouth. He repeated the question, but cut Granger off from answering, saying that she had already wasted her chance. Oh, revenge was sweet. This came very close to making up for all the times she had tried to fool him with that know-it-all act of hers. On the opposite side of the room, Draco raised his hand. The boy had his text book open in front of him, and had obviously looked up the answer while the professor had been distracted with Granger - which warmed Severus's heart still further. It was such a perfectly Slytherin thing to do.

With one final exhortation to, for Merlin's sake, make sure to add the ingredients in the proper order, Severus set the students to their brewing and swooped down on the chair behind his desk, to supervise their efforts from afar. By sixth year, even the most mediocre of students should be able to produce a potion without him breathing down their necks. Well, actually, that was his favorite part of class, but his legs were tired from all that pacing.

The classroom transformed into a flurry of feverish activity as everyone rushed to get their ingredients and set up their equipment in the limited time left of the period. Or rather, he noted with interest activity everywhere except for one corner of the Gryffindor table. Severus leaned back and watched through half-lidded eyes.

Granger was still sitting in her seat, having made no move to get started, with her head propped up on one hand. She was rolling one earlobe between her fingers and had a dreamy look in her eyes as though she were a million miles away. Severus wondered what she was thinking about, and then decided hurriedly that he didn't want to know. He had seen that look on other student's faces before, and it usually signaled a severe state of infatuation. _Disgusting._

As he watched, Potter arrived back at the table with his ingredients and prodded his daydreaming friend, startling her out of her reverie. Severus thought he could hear something him asking her something, and then she said something to him and dashed off to the supply cabinet. Damn girl would probably _still_ manage to brew the potion perfectly, Severus thought with distaste.

He gave the classroom one more scan – good, no impending disasters yet – and summoned the pile of essays that had been passed in at the beginning of class from the far corner of his desk. He might as well get started on them now, seeing as he had nothing better to do. And also he was loath to give up more of his free time than was strictly necessary to grading student's essays, what with their painful spelling errors and absurd grammar choices. Did no one teach children to _write_, these days? And that wasn't even to mention the fact that they rarely had anything useful or original to say about the topics he assigned…though of course, it did take a refined mind to grasp the intricacies of Potions theory, one that he could not expect the average student to possess.

He took the top essay off the pile and vindictively marked off a spelling mistake in the first sentence in the poison green ink that he reserved for correcting essays. It was a tedious task, to be sure, but not without its rewards. Severus took small pleasures where he could find them.

The class was already halfway done with their potions when he arrived at Granger's essay. Hers were not usually as entertaining as the others; while he did enjoy marking her off for following the textbook to religiously, even that got boring if it was all you could do. He scanned down the essay, looking in vain for a single spelling error, when his eyes lit on something far better. There, in the margin of her otherwise impeccable essay, was a _heart_. A heart with _initials_ in it. Granger had just handed him the perfect weapon. If Severus had been thirty years younger, he might have crowed.

Across the room, Granger was working away at her potion, drizzling dragon's blood into her cauldron in a desultory fashion. She looked distracted…and earlier, she had been daydreaming…oh, this was rich. The Gryffindor genius, brought down by love. He wondered who the lucky chap was – if he ever found him, he would offer his most sincere congratulations at a job well done.

Looking around the room, he didn't spot any likely candidates; there was no one here to whom Granger was paying particular attention. Severus squinted at the obscene marking on the essay again. The bloke's name was apparently "W" … or perhaps "GW"; he couldn't tell whether the middle character was supposed to be one G or two. Or maybe Granger had been ensnared by someone with the initials "HGW"? But he had the feeling that she would have included both of their initials in there; girls had the disturbing tendency to do that…

Severus took grim joy in circling the heart and scrawling "_INAPPROPRIATE!_" next to it in large, severe letters, and in taking off an absurd amount of points from her grade. Oh, this was perfect…if only she kept it up, then all would be right in the world.

At lunch, Severus made sure to keep an eye out for anyone that Granger might be paying an unusual amount of attention to. While he was quickly retreating from the idea of a handshake – that was really not his style – he thought that a nice anonymous bunch of flowers or box of chocolates by way of thanks wouldn't go amiss. And if they acted to strengthen this budding romance, then so much the better. Romance, of course, was abhorrent in itself - but when inflicted on one's enemies, it could have the most delicious results. Results such as the ones Severus had already tasted earlier in class, for instance…

The youngest Weasley – the irritably peppy one, whatever her name was – walked past Granger's seat at the Gryffindor table and made as if to greet her, but was given what looked like an obscene hand gesture in response. The redhead made off quickly in the direction of an empty seat further down the table, but Granger's gaze locked on the other girl and followed her as she walked away.

Severus dismissed this strange interchange as largely irrelevant and served himself some asparagus. He chewed patiently, waiting for the mystery bloke to show up. All the students were in the Hall at the same time during meals; he would be impossible to miss if Severus looked close enough.

But the only person that Granger paid any attention to was the Weasley girl; she kept looking down the table at her for long periods of time, forgetting to eat, and then looking down at her plate and turning red as soon as the other girl glanced in her direction. _Girls_, Severus thought with a shudder. They were such incomprehensible and distasteful creatures, on the whole. There was clearly some simmering animosity at play here, if Granger's earlier gesture and their studied avoidance of eye contact were any indication.

Albus, who was sitting at Severus's right elbow, followed his gaze to the Gryffindor table and sighed wistfully, putting down his own forkful of asparagus.

"Ah, young love!" he exclaimed nonsensically.

"Excuse me, Headmaster?"

He sighed again, his smile distant. "It brings back fine memories of my time with Gelly. Oh, those were the days; so young and carefree…" He was now regarding the bushy-haired girl with a twinkle in his eye.

"But of course," Severus murmured. Inwardly, he rolled his eyes. He didn't even want to know who or what "Gelly" was, and it was just better to smile and nod when the old headmaster started rambling like this. It would be asking too much to expect any of it to make sense.

Albus watched the Gryffindor table for the rest of the meal with that absurd twinkle in his eye, and he even leaned over and tried to include Minerva in on the joke, whatever it was. Severus couldn't tell what she made of it; that woman's reactions were always damned hard to read. She probably appreciated hearing whatever it was, though; she was always much more patient with the headmaster's eccentricities than Severus was.

Try as he might, however, Severus never did spot Granger's love interest, and he left the Great Hall in a foul mood. He hated to be thwarted, even in such unimportant matters as these. His only consolation was that his Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw class was this afternoon, which always provided an excellent vent for his anger.

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Aw, Snape's so silly! But honestly, I thought that it might be good to get out of Ginny's head for a minute and see how Hermione's reacting to all this...and meanwhile, the plot thickens...but if this was a supremely bad idea, tell me!!!


	7. Mistake, Misunderstanding, and Misste

And now, multiple viewpoints in one chapter. Consistency, thou hast abandoned me!

7. Mistake, Misunderstanding, and Misstep

"He made you do detention for getting a bad _grade_?"

The incredulous voice echoing down the hall startled Hannah awake. She was sitting against the wall next to the entrance to her common room, having forgotten the password, in the hopes that someone would come by soon and let her in. She noticed with annoyance that her bum was numb; she must have dozed off waiting. Maybe these people would be Hufflepuffs. But then the second person spoke and she recognized Hermione Granger's voice, dashing her hopes of being let in. Gryffindors then.

"Well, not just for getting a bad grade, no, the grade and the detention were for the same reason…though I do think he's taking this a bit far…Thanks for waiting for me, though."

Hannah recognized Ron Weasley's voice next; it must be the three of them.

"No problem, I didn't mind missing lunch. It's really easy to get food from the kitchens anyway, believe me."

The first voice spoke again; it had to be Harry.

"What was that detention for, Hermione? You_ never_ get detentions, even from Snape – or bad grades, either."

Hermione giggled nervously. "It was – someone drew a heart with our initials in the margin of my essay, and he took exception to it – said it was vastly inappropriate, and not the type of behavior he expected from me, of all people. He acted rather strange about the whole thing, really."

They were getting closer now, because Hannah could hear the intake of breath as Ron asked his question.

"But weren't you_mad_ at them? I mean, the person who did it? They made your grade drop! I mean, not that it would have mattered to me at all…if someone feels like declaring their love for me all over my homework, I say let them!" – Hermione laughed again here – "But I know grades are really important to you, and all..."

There was a pause, and the three Gryffindors rounded the corner and came into view. Hermione had a pensive expression on her face.

"Not really…I know that the essay itself was fine, the grade was only because of a silly little thing. One bad grade in the whole term isn't really going to affect my final grade for the class in any significant way, it was just Snape being –"

"A greasy git?" Harry supplied.

"Yeah. And I could have taken the heart off before if I had wanted to," (Hermione was blushing now) "I just…didn't really want to…"

Ron gave a low whistle. "Sounds like she's fallen hard, this one. So, when's the nuptials? I expect to receive an engraved invitation, and for there to be plenty of food."

Hermione's mouth fell open. "No! Nothing like that's happening! That would mean that I actually have to tell them how I feel, and I don't want to do that…everything's happened so suddenly, and I don't know…" She trailed off.

"So when did this all start, then?" Ron asked, sounding very curious.

Hermione blushed again. "A few nights ago…they…um, did something totally unexpected, and I was caught off guard, and said something kind of … encouraging of such attentions, and now, I don't know what to do…I mean, it's easy to _say_ things like that, in the heat of the moment, but acting on your feelings is a whole other story…If I even knew what they _were_…"

They had passed Hannah and were reaching the far end of the hallway, but she could still hear Harry mutter under his breath, "I know exactly how you feel…" before Ron started prying into the identity of the amorous stranger.

Hannah waited until their voices had completely faded away, and then scrambled up from her place against the wall, massaging her bum absentmindedly as she did so. This was News, and Ginny had to be alerted at once. Luckily, it was a Saturday afternoon, so she should be free. And Parvati and Lavender would probably be interested too. Hannah hadn't had anything important to do in the dorms, really; this was far more urgent. And she would probably have better luck finding someone to let her in after dinner, anyway.

* * *

Ginny sat down on the bed breathing rather heavily, anxious to know what had been worth dragging her to the Gryffindor girls' dormitories all the way from the courtyard at a breakneck speed. Lavender, who had done the dragging, flopped down on the bed next to her.

"Alright, I got her," she said to Hannah and Parvati, who were already assembled, sitting on Parvati's bed. "Will you tell us now?"

"Did you lock the door?" Hannah asked seriously.

Lavender got up, slid the lock shut on the door, and threw herself back down on the bed again. "Ok, she can't break in and hear us. Now will you spill?"

Parvati shook her head in amusement at her friend's impatience, but it didn't stop her from leaning in in anticipation when Hannah opened her mouth to speak.

Ginny was curious too, now; all Lavender had told her in the courtyard was that Hannah had something important to say about _her_, but that she wouldn't talk until Ginny was there.

"Well, I was sitting outside my dorm," she started, and the other three all unconsciously leaned in further.

"And Hermione walked by, talking to Ron and Harry – it sounded like they were on the way to the kitchens, to get a late lunch, because Hermione had been in a detention with Snape."

Ginny could feel her face turning white. She had a bad feeling about this.

"And she said it was because of an essay she turned in, which –"

Ginny let out a gasp. _Shitshitshitshitshit, this was _bad. "Oh _no_! That must be the essay that – that night, when I was playing the song for her and being seductive, I wrote our initials in a heart on her essay – I just wanted to make sure that she knew what I meant, but –" Ginny was wringing her hands so hard that it hurt.

All eyes were now riveted on her, and Lavender and Parvati both wore identical expressions of horrified fascination.

"Did she say if he took points off her grade for it?" asked Ginny miserably.

"Yeah, it sounded like she got a pretty bad grade on it," Hannah supplied, looking concerned.

Ginny was sure that any concern she felt could not remotely match Ginny's own concern – No, _remorse_. There was not a word to convey how bad Ginny felt right now. "Why did I _do _it?" she moaned aloud. "I was just trying to – and then it went all wrong, and now she's going to hate me!"

Lavender patted her back tentatively and traded helpless looks with Parvati.

"But she –" Hannah started, but Ginny cut her off, heedless.

"I came on too strong! And here I was, thinking it was going fine all these days, but it's only because she hadn't gotten her essay back yet. Why did I _do_ it? I should never have written on her _essay_ of all places, what was I thinking?" She buried her head in her hands. "Maybe we're just not meant for each other!"

Hannah opened her mouth to speak again, but Parvati gave her a stern look. This was a Serious Problem, one which only she and Lavender were qualified to deal with.

"I don't think you were coming on too strong," said Lavender, consolingly. "I mean, if she was really interested, I think she would have done something by now; you were sending all the right signals. It's really not your fault if she hasn't responded yet."

"Yeah," agreed Parvati, in the same tone. "It's nothing you did; she's probably just not interested. Essay or no essay. If she had been interested, the grade probably wouldn't have made a difference to her."

"It didn't," Hannah interrupted in a small voice, but Parvati wasn't done talking.

"You tried your best, Ginny, really. But there's not much you can do if there's nothing on her end…I'd say just move on and find someone else, at this point. I'm sure not everybody will be as unreceptive to your charms."

Ginny snorted. _This is supposed to make me feel better?_ The older girls couldn't know what they were talking about; maybe they had never actually liked someone. _Honestly, you'd think it doesn't matter to them _who_ they go out with! I won't give up that easily. And I don't believe for one minute that she's not interested either. _

"No, that's not right, I'm sure she was interested…" she muttered, standing up from the bed. "Anyway, I – I have to go now, actually – Quidditch practice – thanks for telling me though, I appreciate knowing…"

Parvati and Lavender shared a knowing look. Running away from one's problems was understandable, and they could give Ginny some time if that's what she needed.

"But –" Hannah started, sounding somewhat desperate, but Ginny was already out the door. She didn't actually have Quidditch practice for another half hour, but she needed to go somewhere where she could think. And somewhere where she wouldn't have heartless girls giving her bad advice that she had no intention of following.

The common room was full, seeing as it was a Saturday and cold outside, so Ginny continued past the common room and out of the dorm. She had her cloak and outdoor robes with her already since she had come straight from the courtyard, and so she headed out of the castle and down to the Quidditch pitch. There shouldn't be anyone in the locker room right now; it would be an idea quiet place to think.

As predicted, the locker room was empty, so she slipped in and let herself drop onto a bench. Resting her head in her hands, she let her thoughts spiral out.

She had told Parvati that she was sure Hermione was interested, but to be honest with herself, she couldn't be _sure_ that the other girl was interested. What if, despite her best efforts, Ginny was still coming on too strong, and then if Hermione reacted, it would only be out of a sense of obligation? No, that wasn't right…Ginny wanted Hermione to like her on her own, for her own sake, not in some artificial, manufactured way. And if Hermione _was_ mad at her for the grade, as she had every right to be, then Ginny especially couldn't pressure her…like she had been doing that fateful night when she drew the heart.

Ginny groaned. What was she going to do? The situation had turned out bad, yes, but she wouldn't let this be the end of it. She would just have to back off, and let Hermione take the lead for now. Ginny had made her intentions known, after all, there wasn't much more that she could do. It was up to Hermione to decide what she wanted.

Granted, she still felt immensely guilty about causing Hermione – Hermione, of all people! – to get a bad grade (and a detention!) in Potions, but what was done was done. There was nothing much she could do at this point except apologize, and hope that it wouldn't be too uncomfortable. At least now, with everything up to Hermione, she couldn't make any more mistakes like she had done before. Ginny felt comforted by this resolve, and only hoped that she would be able to stick to it.


	8. Noteworthy

This one has very little dialog, so it looks short. Also, I think I lost my funny. Didn't this used to a humorous story, or something? le sigh. Also, it only took me two and a half hours to write this - I don't know if I should be bragging about that or not. In any case, these chapters are the perfect length to, oh, procrastinate on your feminist philosophy paper with, say. Also since I have to run to class this isn't exactly proofread...so please, please tell me about any heinous mistakes you see so I can fix them later?

Oh, and this chapter is dedicated to anyone who has exams now or coming up. (Is it awkward to indirectly dedicate a chapter to oneself?) Anyway, goooood luuuuuuck!! Don't fail now, you can do it ;)

Edit (after class): Cha, there were things. The stuff I saw is fixed now, though - like the divider at the end of the chapter was in the wrong place and I left the H off the end of Hannah's name in one spot. Sloppy, sloppy! Makes my inner copy editor cringe.

8. Noteworthy

Breakfast was an uncomfortable affair that morning, mostly due to Hermione. She hadn't been in the common room last night, foiling Ginny's attempts at apologizing to her and making Ginny fear that she was avoiding her purposely, and now she was sitting too far away to talk to. Ginny's conscience was nagging her about it, and she doubted she would have much appetite until she had done her best to set things right. She got a break from pushing food around her plate when the post owls came, and tucked her only letter, which was addressed to her in a girlish script that was plainly not Hermione's, to read later.

She spent the rest of the meal staring at the side of Hermione's head and willing her to look over, but when she did, it was only a brief smile and wave, and not whatever Ginny was hoping it would be.

Class seemed to drag on more interminably than it usually did, and without Hermione there to distract her, Ginny found herself growing more and more curious about the letter she had received. She pulled it out and tried to see if she recognized the handwriting, but from the small sample there – just her name – it was impossible to identify. When, after several centuries, Flitwick stopped talking and let them go, Ginny headed straight to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom so she could read it. No friends would be there to bother her or look over her shoulder (not a good idea when she herself didn't even know what it said), and no teachers would be there to take it away and deduct house points for carrying on personal business in class.

However, when she arrived, Myrtle's bathroom wasn't unoccupied after all. Hermione, of all people, stood in front of the sink, fixing her hair in the dusty mirror. Ginny let the door close behind her.

"Hi, Hermione!" It was surprisingly easy to sound cheerful in her presence.

Hermione looked up and smiled at her through the mirror. "Hey, Ginny." She turned around, and leaned back casually on the sink. Ginny swallowed. Things might be simpler if everything Hermione did wasn't so darn _sexy_ all the time. "Actually, I was just about to go looking for you, I had something to, er – tell you." Hermione ran her hand through her hair, an echo of Harry's own nervous gesture.

"Oh really?" Ginny grew a bit nervous herself; Hermione would not like to hear what she was going to have to say. "I had something to tell you, too. You can go first though," she said, buying time.

"No, you," Hermione said, sounding a bit over-eager.

"No, you, really, you said it first anyway."

"I – oh, fine." Hermione appeared to be blushing. "It's about, well –"

And without warning, she leaned over and kissed Ginny. It was not long, but not too short either, as if Hermione knew what she was doing and wasn't afraid to take her time. Ginny was so startled that she simply stood there, frozen, and didn't react until Hermione had pulled away.

"That was…" she trailed off, not knowing what she had meant to say it was like, and met Hermione's eyes.

Hermione smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. That was for the book – you know. You said I could do it when I wanted, so… I should have warned you better, though. What was it you wanted to say?"

"Um." Now Ginny was the one blushing. She was trying to stick to her earlier resolve to not do anything that would push Hermione, but _she had just kissed her_. Didn't that have to count for something? But a more rational part of her brain supplied that no it did not, since Ginny had been the one to extort the kiss out of her in the first place. Hermione was just keeping her word. Ginny decided it would probably be best to just deliver her apology and hope for the best, as she had originally intended.

"I heard about your grade in Potions, and well, I'm really sorry about it. I mean, I was the one who drew that on your essay," _Yes, be captain obvious, Ginny._ "And so it's my fault, and, well…I feel really bad," she finished lamely.

Hermione reached out and squeezed her shoulder. "It's ok. I figured it was you all along, and I'm not mad, am I? Don't worry about it." She gave a reassuring smile, but Ginny was not reassured. Of course she would _say_ things like this.

Ginny expected Hermione to start asking something embarrassing, like why she would do something like that in the first place, and whether she had meant anything by it, but she just gave Ginny's shoulder another squeeze and headed for the door.

"I should head to class now, I've got Herbology," she said with that same sheepish smile. "See you later." And she was gone.

Ginny stared at the door for a moment, and then went into a stall and sat down on the closed toilet. Myrtle seemed to be absent today, for which she was grateful. She had enough to deal with right now without adding a petulant ghost on top of it. _So, Hermione doesn't hold the heart thing against me – or at least she said she did. And she didn't seem to have anything on principle against kissing me, or she wouldn't have done it even if I tried to make her. But she did seem really quick let it drop, too. Should I have let her drop it? But no, I said I wouldn't push her any more…_

Ginny kicked the wall in frustration. It was too _complicated_, and she suspected that it was mostly her fault. Whatever she did, she seemed to go about things the wrong way. She took the letter out of her pocket, her original reason for coming here, and wondered ironically if _it_ could provide any answers. Unexpectedly, it did.

_Ginny,_

_You're probably wondering why I'm writing to you, but I didn't know when we'd be able to talk otherwise, and who knows if I'd be able to get my point across anyway in a conversation. This is safer. And you looked like you might be on the verge of doing something rash when you stormed off yesterday, so I figured the sooner you got this, the better. I hope it helps. _

_I never got to finish telling you what I overheard from Hermione yesterday because Lav – well, never mind. The point is, she said to Harry and Ron that she didn't feel bad about her grade or her detention, and so you shouldn't get all upset about it. I tried to tell you all this before, really I did! But you ran off too fast. Anyway, what I had come to say wasn't even about the essay – I think she knows it's you; she was talking like she did, and just didn't want Ron or Harry to find out who it was. And I think she might fancy you a bit too, maybe. Well, she said that she didn't know what her feelings were, but you should have seen the way she was giggling and blushing and everything…_

_I'm not a huge expert on love or whatever, but Hufflepuffs are supposed to be good at this stuff, so I'll give it a shot. You looked like you needed some good advice after all that stuff about giving up on her that Lav and Parvati were spouting. Basically, I say you should just give her a little time to figure herself out, and just try to be yourself. She clearly knows you have feelings, and you don't want to confuse her or anything, or make it hard to decide what to do. I think she'll go with you in the end though, she's clearly smitten. Or at least I think she is. Anyway, good luck with Hermione, and everything! _

_Hannah_

_PS: I hope this got to you before things get too awkward with you thinking she was really mad! I hope you didn't say anything to her, at least. _

_PPS: Don't worry even if you did, because I really do think she fancies you Ginny! _

Ginny grinned as she smoothed the letter and reread the parts about how Hannah thought Hermione might fancy Ginny… Hannah seemed intent on emphasizing that point, and Ginny knew she had no reason to lie. And it would be just like Hermione to wait to act on her feelings until she had pinned them down and figured them out to the last detail. She wasn't likely to believe something until she understood it, but if what Hannah had said was true…

She would have to buy Hannah vast amounts of chocolate when she next went to Honeydukes, or maybe just open up an unlimited line of credit in her name; maybe that would start to convey the immense gratitude she felt at knowing the truth. Words couldn't express it, certainly. She would take the Hufflepuff's advice and give Hermione time to sort out her feelings, but waiting like this was _infinitely_ preferable to waiting thinking that you had just given the object of your affection every reason to hate your guts forever.

Though she didn't agree with Hannah that she should be so careful not to further confuse Hermione – this was _Hermione _they were talking about; handling confusion was what Hermione had been born to do.

* * *

Next chapter: Moaning Myrtle intrudes!! Actually no, scratch that; I am _never_ right when I say what will come next. This chapter, for example, is completely different than I had down on my so-called outline. Which is now totally irrelevant by the way. Le sigh.


	9. In Which Snape Interrupts

I have absolutely no excuse for letting it go this long between updates. None! All I can do is humbly offer this chapter and hope it begins to make up for it.

Also: Earphones has over 100 reviews!!1! OMG you guys, I never expected it to even come this far, much less get this much of a response. My plotless little crack!fic, it does not deserve it! You guys are awesome. (tears up)

9. In Which Snape Interrupts

After the incident in the bathroom, Ginny _thought_ she had Hermione figured out. She covertly studied Hermione's face as the older girl pored over her books. It looked like the face of a girl who was engaged in an inner struggle with her feelings for her best friend (female). Well, no, right now it looked like the face of a girl who was engaged in an inner struggle with her Muggle Studies research, but just a moment ago, when she had looked up at Ginny and blushed when she saw Ginny was looking back, she had had The Look.

Ginny knew it well.

And if Ginny was right about Hermione needing more 'evidence' to base her feelings on, she was doing all she could to speed the process along. This evening, for instance, she had accompanied Hermione to the library for her research session, telling Hermione (truthfully) that she'd rather spend her Friday evening with Hermione than anywhere else - even if it did mean four solid hours of homework.

The fourth hour was already over and they were well into the fifth, but Ginny was determined to stay until Hermione left. It wasn't like she minded; watching Hermione study was a treat in itself. But she hadn't had a chance to do much else, and _that_ was beginning to get tiresome. The paltry Muggle Studies section was situated in a direct line of sight from Madam Pince's desk, and Ginny hadn't dared to do so much as speak above a whisper the entire evening. The walk back to Gryffindor tower, alone with Hermione – and, if she stayed until the library closed like she seemed to be planning to do - after curfew, in deserted hallways, was looking ever more attractive.

From the increasing frequency of weighing glances Hermione was sending her way, Ginny guessed that she was thinking along the same lines.

At long last, the closing bell sounded. The late-night denizens emptied out of the library, burdened with bulging stacks of books in their arms and the wizened librarian's glare on their backs. The other students, thankfully all Ravenclaws, turned down a side corridor shortly after exiting the library, leaving Ginny and Hermione finally, blissfully, alone.

They walked along in silence for a while, giggling when they successfully navigated a particularly tricky moving staircase. A couple of times Hermione opened her mouth as if to speak and then closed it again, pressing her lips between her teeth as if the words would struggle to get out. Ginny, intensely curious about this display, held her tongue and hoped that it wasn't too much to hope that this time be like the last time.

"You know," Hermione started in a carefully calculating tone, "That book you held hostage..."

"What about it?" Ginny liked the direction this was taking already. Somehow she doubted that Hermione would bring up _the book_ only to segue into some more mundane subject.

"Well, it caused me a lot of pain and suffering to find it gone. Transfigurations is my first class of the day, you know. And then there's all the time I wasted looking for it."

"I'm terribly sorry," Ginny said, tongue in cheek, hoping that Hermione was getting at what she thought she was getting at. "But I _did_ give it back in the end."

"Doesn't change the fact that I already went through all that excruciating pain and suffering. And you didn't _give _the book back, you ransomed it. I don't think 'sorry' quite does the trick here."

"It doesn't? Then what...?" Ginny _tried_ to keep the raw hunger out of her voice, she really did.

"No. Clearly, what the situation demands are restitutions."

"Restitutions?" Ginny was suddenly gladder than ever that she had started the ridiculous game. _ I was right, Hermione _is_ trying to play along! And by starting a new round, no less. _ "What could possibly be an appropriate price for all that excruciatingly agonizing pain and suffering?"

"Indeed. Mental anguish heretofore unknown to man nor woman." How Hermione managed to keep a straight face while saying those things, Ginny never knew.

"Do I even have anything that could make up for it?" Ginny held her breath. This was the most open she'd been since – well, the most open she'd been so far, pretty much. _Gods, why is it so hard just to speak to the girl??_

"I can think of at least one thing," Hermione said.

"Oh? What do you want, Hermione?"

"One kiss, I think. Then we can call it even." But her eyes held the promise that this went well beyond calling it even.

Ginny's heart lept up into her throat and attempted to strangle her, in a (mostly) good way. _This proves it then! She would never, never have made up another debt like this if she wasn't interested. Yes! Yes yes yes!!_

Ginny nodded her agreement, pressing her lips together lest her inner squealing become audible. "Just say when."

"How about right now?" Hermione stopped square in front of Ginny. Ginny accidentally-on-purpose didn't stop walking soon enough, and Hermione staggered back half a step as they collided. She didn't trip, though, and Ginny fleetingly regretted the lost opportunity to accidentally-on-purpose fall on top of her and snog her into the floor right in the middle of the corridor.

It was only a momentary regret, however. Their chests were smashed together, their noses almost touching, and Hermione's foot was still where it was after having trod on Ginny's toe while trying to regain her balance. All in all, it was heavenly.

"Ginny..."

Ginny closed her eyes and kissed Hermione softly on her parted lips. If she hadn't closed her eyes, she might have seen that Hermione's own eyes had widened as if beholding impending doom, and her lips were parting to speak a warning.

Too late, though. Ginny had no warning whatsoever when the next instant she was wrenched away from Hermione by the collar of her robes and roughly thrown aside. Ginny stumbled and fell to the floor, registering even as she fell that she'd have a nasty bruise on her hip in the morning.

"Granger! Weasley!"

Ginny massaged her abused neck and looked up to find Professor Snape towering over them. He looked positively gleeful. She got back to her feet and glared at him. Of all the times to meet the bloody evil bastard to out in the corridors after curfew...

"_What _is the meaning of this?"

To her credit, Hermione didn't hesitate for a moment. "I was snogging another student in the halls after curfew, Professor, just like it looked." She said it with a perfectly straight face, in the exact same voice she used to answer questions in class. Snape curled his lip distastefully. Ginny felt her admiration of the older girl go up another several notches.

"It's my fault, sir," Ginny said, feeling that she couldn't let Hermione take all the blame. "We've only just come from the library, and if I hadn't... waylaid her... then we'd have been in before curfew."

Hermione caught Ginny's eye and a smile played around the corners of her mouth. "No, sir, it was me who waylaid her this time."

Snape turned a bit green around the edges. "I do not want to hear the details of your sordid little tryst, Granger. Ten points from Gryffindor for breaking curfew, ten points for consorting with another student in public, fifteen points for sullying my view of the corridor, and twenty-five points for insubordination. Each. The amount will be tripled if either one of you so much as _thinks_ of stopping again before you reach Gryffindor Tower."

"How many points _is_ that?" Ginny whispered to Hermione as Snape swirled off, muttering to himself balefully.

"One hundred twenty altogether," Hermione whispered back after consulting the upper reaches of her eyelids for a moment.

Ginny whistled under her breath. "Almost as bad as the time Fred and George snogged each other in his class, then. Impressive. Wonder what the git has against snogging?"

Hermione snorted. "They did _what_?!"

Ginny grinned. "It was before I came to Hogwarts, but I've heard the stories. Apparently he was livid. Couldn't look at them for weeks."

Hermione snorted again, and then laughed out loud. "I can see it! He'd go apoplectic! Gods, talk about having issues..."

They were still out of breath from laughing when they came through the portrait hole a few minutes later, having taken pains not waylay each other a second time and further earn the ire of their housemates. Ginny had half a mind to waylay Hermione as soon as they got to the safety of the common room, but then there were people in the common room and something in Hermione's eyes told Ginny that now was not the time. Ginny could practically see the confidence she had worked up in the corridor draining away under the curious eyes of the room's occupants.

Hermione drifted toward the staircase to the Girls' Dormitories and Ginny followed her, noticing a space had opened up between them that hadn't been there on their giddy trip through the hallways.

Once she reached the stairs, however, Hermione lingered, still not quite looking straight at Ginny, but not seeming to want to leave her presence either. Ginny had rarely seen her friend wound so tight.

"Goodnight, Hermione," she said, gently.

"Goodnight! See you tomorrow, Ginny." She grinned and met Ginny's eyes for one nervous, glowing instant before turning and positively flying up the stairs.

Ginny was about to follow her – maybe she wouldn't be averse to being waylaid in the deserted stairwell? - when a sharp hiss made her turn around. Parvati beckoned eagerly from her place by the fire, and Ginny grudgingly went over.

"What was _that_ all about? Spill."

Ginny wiggled her eyebrows and made suggestive kissing motions.

"No! Seriously?"

"Seriously," Ginny said. "Swear on my mother. Too bad Snape had to catch us though; I think we might have actually gotten somewhere this time."

"This time? You've been keeping secrets from me!"

Ginny yawned. "Ask me tomorrow, Parvati. There's not really that much to explain right now – I _think_ she mostly likes me, but it's awkward. We got _interrupted. _ She's _this_ close, really." Ginny held her finger and thumb a hair's breadth apart and hoped that she was right. Hermione always said that sleeping on something helped her sort it out, and Ginny hoped it was true. She thought that if they hadn't been interrupted they would have been able to sort them tonight, though.

It was quite simple, really. Ginny wanted Hermione, demonstrably; Hermione liked kissing her, demonstrably. And Ginny was completely and totally in love with her. She didn't see what more evidence could be needed.


	10. Under the Table

The penultimate chapter! (Finally, the end is in sight!) It's a bit longer than usual this time. Hope it satisfies! ; ) The usual apologies for typos &tc apply. It just seems so awkward to get a beta at this stage in the game...

10. Under the Table

The morning of the Hogsmeade weekend dawned just as predicted, sunny and warm. It was warm enough to make snowbanks melt into slush around the edges, but luckily enough to make the walk down to the village uncomfortably muddy.. Ginny had gladly left her usual thick layers and industrial-strength warming charms behind in favor of a red sweater and hat. A very _fetching_ red sweater and hat if she did say so herself (and she did), a fact which hopefully would not escape Hermione's notice.

Ginny had spent the greater part of the previous night trying her best not to run up to Hermione's room, and credited the distraction of outfit-picking-out with her success in that endeavor. She had needed something that looked nice, obviously, but not _too_ nice; she didn't want to look like she placed any _actual_ importance on things like clothes that were, in the scheme of things, pretty trivial. But obsessing about trivial things had the convenient effect of keeping her from obsessing about less trivial things, like what if Hermione had just been experimenting and after she slept on it she'd decide that Ginny wasn't really her thing after all? It wasn't outside the realm of possibility, after all, and they hadn't talked about it. Ginny didn't _know_.

It was driving her mad. She'd been walking next to Hermione for the past ten minutes, in relative solitude since Harry and Ron were walking together ahead of them, and she still hadn't worked up the nerve to broach the subject. It was almost better to just wonder and hope, but it _wasn't_, and it was driving Ginny absolutely up the wall.

It was getting ridiculous, and Ginny knew it. _Ok, I'll say something as soon as we pass that tree..._

They passed the tree.

Ginny kept silent. Hermione had been talking; Ginny didn't want to interrupt... But this was _important_! _Fine, as soon as we pass that knobbly rock there I'll say something, even if she's still talking..._

Ginny had nearly worked herself up to speak, honestly she had, when Hermione spoke first.

"I found your note." Hermione leaned a bit closer. Ginny instinctively mirrored her motion.

"You did?" Ginny's voice squeaked slightly. _That_ note. Yes. That was one way to bring up the subject, all right. "What... erm... what did you think?" Ginny could have kicked herself. _Yes, yet another brilliantly seductive line, courtesy of Ginny Weasley! Guaranteed to knock them off their feet!_

"You... you don't regret leaving it for me, do you? It must have been a while ago..." Hermione chewed on her lip.

"What? No, absolutely not, I do not regret it _at all._" Ginny's heart was racing in her chest. Now there was no absolutely doubt that Hermione knew about her feelings. Not even the tiniest shred of a doubt to hold on to and carefully cultivate against future disappointment – it was all or nothing now. The idea was as scary as it was exhilarating.

"So you really mean it?"

Ginny nodded. It was as true now as it was then – though if she could do it again now, she might not tell Hermione she loved her in a note in a book. It had just seemed so hard _not_ to do then.

There was still something a bit unsure in Hermione's eyes, so Ginny said it out loud. "I do mean it. I totally love you. Or at least really really strongly fancy you, but it's probably the same thing. And I wasn't trying to get you to say it back or anything, I just wanted to... say it. So you knew."

"Oh," was all Hermione said, but she was smiling.

"You -" Ginny started, but a clod of snow hit Ginny on the shoulder, and she looked up to see her brother and Harry already skipping out of range.

Ginny scooped up a handful of slush – laced with a fair bit of mud; this was no time to be delicate – and lobbed it viciously in their direction, hitting Harry on the knee.

"AndIthinkyou'rereallyhot," she whispered recklessly in Hermione's ear before bending to make another snowball.

"Oi!" Ron yelled. Ginny saw something white fly past out of the corner of her eye.

Hermione ducked the next missile and pulled Ginny down with her. "I think you're really hot too," she said, her eyes dancing.

Ginny's grin was the kind that could split your face in two if you weren't careful. Ginny wasn't in a very careful mood right now. She was about to say something else, or perhaps move on to a more physical demonstration of just how much she fancied Hermione, but then the boys were upon them and there was no time.

Their sedate walk down to the village quickly devolved into a full-blown snow fight, culminating in a mad race to get to the pub before Hermione made good her threat of pushing snow down everyone's necks if they didn't stop behaving like utter children. Yes, they had been interrupted _again_, but Ginny couldn't stop grinning. Hermione _knew_. And she didn't hate Ginny for it, and she thought she was hot too, and she had kissed her last night, and everything was more or less perfect.

They reached the Three Broomsticks in a haze of laughter and numb hands and melting snow and quickly took over the nearest vacant table.

After a bit of jostling as dripping outer garments were removed and hung gingerly on chair backs Ginny found herself sitting next to Harry, inevitably as far away from Hermione as the cramped table would allow. _Figures. And just when we were getting somewhere, too. _Ginny scowled at Ron, wishing she had his seat next to Hermione – or better, that she and Hermione were alone in the room and able to actually _talk_ about things. Or they could skip straight to the not talking part; Ginny was flexible like that.

Ginny was on the verge of doing something unfortunate like getting up and dragging Hermione out of the crowded pub, or perhaps just launching herself across the table and snogging her in front of everyone, when Rosmerta arrived with their usual round of Butterbeers. This set off Ron's usual round of desperate flirting with her, and Ginny caught Hermione's glance and rolled her eyes. _Boys. _ Admittedly, Rosmerta did have a passable bosom, but it was nowhere near as fantastic as Hermione's, for example. Though come to think of it, she would much rather Ron notice Rosmerta's womanly assets than Hermoine's. If only he didn't have to do it where she had to see him at it...

Harry cleared his throat. "So, uh, Ginny, what do you think of Gryffindor's chances at winning the cup?"

"Huh? Um, pretty good I guess." The last thing on Ginny's mind right now was Quidditch. Honestly. _B__oys._

"Yeah, me too. I mean, the chances. I think the chances are pretty good. Too."

Ginny regarded Harry askance. Since when had boys lost the ability to even _speak_? Then she caught Hermione's eye across the table. The other girl was laughing silently into her hand, and it suddenly dawned on Ginny that the with the way the four of them were sitting, it looked suspiciously like a double date, and suddenly Harry's inability to articulate himself started to make dreadful sense. Did that mean that Harry thought...? But no, it couldn't be. She had never done anything to encourage him – sure, she had had a crush on him, but that was when she was _ten_. _All_ girls had a crush on Harry Potter when they were ten.

"We still have to play against Ravenclaw, but their next game's against Slytherin, whose beaters..."

Harry was still talking about Quidditch. Ginny smiled and nodded and tried not to look interested in _that way_. If only Hermione would look her way again. She appeared to be having an actual conversation with Ron – _shall the wonders never cease? -_ and it was as if Ginny didn't even exist.

Who was he for her to pay so much attention to? Ron never made Hermione tea, or left her love notes in her textbooks, or snogged her in girls bathrooms... A small part of Ginny's mind told her that she was being irrational; Ron and Hermione had been friends for years and were allowed to talk to each other if they wanted. But a larger part of her just wanted Hermione to stop paying attention to him – what were they talking about anyway, Professor Sprout? _Pointless_ – and pay attention to Ginny.

_Look at me look at me look at me_, Ginny chanted silently in her head, fixing Hermione in a tractor-beam gaze and barely even registering Harry's continued nervous rambling. Hermione was singularly unaffected by Ginny's feat of concentration. Ginny upped her mental volume.

"But the Slytherins do have one good chaser, at least, so..."

Ginny flashed Harry a pained smile and tuned him out. _Look at me look at me come on look..._

Just then, Ginny felt something bump against her ankle. Had Hermione just...? But no, she was still absorbed in her dissection of Professor Sprout's character with Ron. Would _Harry_? Ginny glanced at him, but he didn't seem to have noticed anything. And then it happened again, only this time Ginny was sure it was a foot, and it didn't bump so much as rub up against her ankle slowly before retreating again.

This time Ginny thought she had seen Hermione shift slightly in her seat, but she couldn't be sure. Narrowing her eyes, she waited for the foot to intrude into her space again – _there_ – and she followed it back to its owner, stretching her leg awkwardly under the table to avoid moving and giving herself away. And yes, it was _definitely_ Hermione's foot. Well, unless Harry had recently acquired a detachable leg and was using it to play footsie with her from Hermione's side of the table, a situation Ginny found unlikely at best.

"And the, uh, Hufflepuff team isn't doing too badly this year either, so we can't forget to watch out for any surprise wins from them..."

"Mmhmmm," Ginny said, finally gracing Harry with a verbal reply. Under the table, she silently worked one foot free of her winter boot and sought out Hermione. Ginny's toes collided with her shin – she could tell it was Hermione's because Ron didn't flinch, nor was he wearing a skirt with knee socks today – and Ginny daringly caught the hem of a sock with her toes and began to work it down. After that, the conversation passed much more pleasantly, although if Ginny had actually been trying to pay attention she would have found it most difficult indeed.

Ginny tried to catch Hermione's eye again a few times, but the other girl resolutely showed no sign that she was aware of her lower limbs' actions. She didn't even look up when Ginny, in another precariously balanced stretch, found the hollow at the back of her folded knee with the tips of her toes and managed some approximation of a caress.

Hermione didlean into the touch, though, and, not caring if the boys saw her grinning like an idiot, Ginny repeated the action. She couldn't _believe_ that Hermione was letting her do these things to her. She was now more in favor than ever of skipping the talking stage altogether and going straight for the table-snogging in middle of crowded pub stage. _ Oh lord_. Hermione's foot crept up under the edge of Ginny's pants leg and she shivered in pleasure. Right now. They needed to skip to the snogging _right now. _

Completely oblivious to the conversation at this point, Ginny shifted to facilitate further pants-leg explorations on Hermione's part. Several things happened at once. Ginny felt Hermione's foot slip to the floor, dislodged by Ginny's sudden movement, and then it was gone. A moment later, Harry – whose leg had evidently been closer to Ginny's than she thought – jumped about a foot into the air, blanched, and then shot a truly murderous look at Ron..

Ginny met Hermione's eyes across the table to see an equally surprised expression painted on her face. _What the fuck just happened? _In his corner, Harry was now silently seething while feigning a rapt interest in his bottle, and as for Ron, Ginny didn't think she had ever even seen that expression on his face before. She had the feeling she should feel concerned, but she couldn't help the triumphant spark that bubbled up. _She finally looked at me! Yes yes yes! _ Granted, it wasn't because of anything Ginny had done _per se_, but she could live with the compromise. She _mostly_ succeeded at not grinning inappropriately.

After that, a tense silence fell over the table, one that resisted Ron's feeble attempts change the subject and Ginny's feeble attempts to actually stop tractor-beaming Hermione long enough to talk to him. A few disconnected phrases involving Professor Sprout and the Ravenclaw beater were thrown around, but Ron was talking mostly to himself.

Ginny finally succeeded in catching Hermione's eye again, and looked pointedly toward the door. _We have to get out of here now_, it said. Hermione nodded imperceptibly, and Ginny started thinking in earnest of ways to make a graceful exit.


	11. The Beginning

Major fluff warnings on the chapter. Sorries!

This one's a bit longer than the rest of them... looks like I couldn't resist the urge to do a some end-of-story smut, though I don't know quite how it got this long since they couldn't even actually _do_ stuff. So it's like, non-smutty smut. Stupid past self thinking the rating would never go up.

This chapter is inspired in part by twilightsorcery's "Quietly", which is a seriously beautiful Ginny/Hermione picture you should all check out. I'll put a link in my profile, so seriously, do it. (And leave some comments, artists love comments!) This picture matched what I had planned for this story so much it was _scary_. Credit for the wonderful idea for Ginny's outfit goes to twilightsorcery – it was just too pretty not to write into the story.

And now I'll shut up and let you read.

11. The Beginning

"What was _that _all about?"

Hermione looked over at Ginny and paused to brush a snowflake – it had started flurrying – off her shoulder. "Back at the Three Broomsticks?"

"Yeah."

Hermione shrugged. "I must have hit Harry by accident, and probably he thought I was Ron, and freaked out. Boys. You know." She rolled her eyes, and Ginny laughed.

"Ugh." Ginny shuddered theatrically. "I'm so glad I don't have to _go out_ with one of..." Ginny realized what she was saying and trailed off.

Hermione looked at her expectantly.

"Er, we should probably talk?" It inevitably came out more like a question than she had intended, and Ginny wondered where her courage had gone. She had had plenty of it when it was merely a matter of their feet under a table...

They had managed to escape the awkward atmosphere of the Three Broomsticks eventually, after a few more abortive attempts at conversation (exacerbated by the fact that Ginny couldn't seem to focus on anything other than Hermione for more than a few moments at a time) and the boys had drifted off in different directions soon after. Despite the convenient loss of the male half of their party, Ginny and Hermione had still been unable to find a chance to talk all day. People kept coming up to say hi or chat, and they were never alone for more than a few minutes at a time. For the first time, Ginny had wished she didn't know quite so many people. And then, even when they were alone, it never seemed like a good moment to have a serious discussion.

Now it was getting dark and the village was emptying of students, save for a few amorous couples straggling behind. The sight filled Ginny with equal parts excitement and nerves – if she said something to Hermione, the right thing, then that could very soon be them. But first, she'd actually have to _say_ something...

Hermione brushed another snowflake off Ginny. "Yeah, talking might be a good idea." It was a moment before Ginny realized she was answering her accidental question from before, not reading her mind.

"Mm," Ginny agreed.

"Talking's good," Hermione said.

Ginny would 't be surprised if Hermione was a bit nervous, even if she didn't exactly sound it. She sounded sort of... amused. But wasn't she tripping over her words just like Ginny was? And no wonder – that had been a brash move she had made in the Three Broomsticks, certainly one of the last things Ginny would have expected her to do. The intervening time couldn't have done anything to make Hermione more comfortable, but Ginny doubted she actually regretted it. She had been throwing Ginny covert little glances all afternoon, and she had been sticking a lot closer to her than she usually did, although never quite touching her. _She wants it, _thought Ginny_, she has to, only she's too shy to make the first move again. _Well, Ginny could take care of that.

"Right," started Ginny, silently telling her nerves where they could stuff it.

Hermione waited for her to continue, still wearing that slightly amused, slightly affectionate look.

"So," Ginny said, resisting nervousness valiantly. "Talking."

"Mm."

These talks were damn hard to start, Ginny decided, no matter how much you wanted to have them.

_Just say something, Ginny. Anything. This is Hermione, she's not going to judge_ - "So, we kind of played footsie back there in the Three Broomsticks." Ginny forced out the words in a burst. She managed to make it not come out like a question, and was unreasonably proud of herself.

"Yup." Hermione was blushing slightly, but she looked decidedly smug. Ginny turned down a side street thinking that perhaps the main thoroughfare of the village was not the best place to have A Serious Conversation About One's Feelings, and Hermione (the same thought clearly having crossed her mind), followed close behind.

"And you kissed me that time," Ginny continued.

"Two times," Hermione added helpfully.

"Right, two times, that's what I meant." Ginny felt the heat start to rise in her cheeks. Somehow telling yourself not to be nervous seemed to do the exact opposite.

"And...?" Hermione meandered to a halt and leaned against the side of the nearest building, regarding Ginny from the gathering shadows.

"And, um, do you think you'd ever like to do it again?" Whatever Ginny had been planning to say next, that had not been it. _Worst possible line EVER, Ginny Weasley_, she told herself. _Bravo_. And then,_ might as well go all the way with it..._

Ginny took a step closer to the wall Hermione was leaning against and propped her hand beside Hermione's ear. "Because if you would, I could arrange that for you..." She tried to use her best sultry voice, really she did, but the corners of her mouth kept tugging up and her voice didn't seem to possess any lower octaves to drop into. These things were supposed to be funny when you looked back on them, not while you were _doing_ them.

The corners of Hermione's mouth danced dangerously, and then she grinned widely, an undignified giggle bursting forth.

_Oh thank goodness_, Ginny thought, allowing her own grin to break free. At least she wasn't the only one who found the situation slightly ridiculous.

A playful spark lit in Hermione's eyes and she tipped her head as if considering. "Why yes, I believe I would appreciate it greatly if you could arrange something like that for me..."

Ginny lifted her free hand to cup the back of Hermione's head and leaned closer. "Greatly?"

"So much," Hermione breathed, suddenly serious. "If you really want to, I mean."

"You have _no _idea." Ginny leaned in further, the butterflies beating a tattoo in her stomach. Why was this so much more nerve-racking than the other times? Hermione made a small impatient noise in her throat, and Ginny realized that she was _hesitating. _That would just not do.

Ginny bunched her fingers in Hermione's hair and closed the remaining distance between them, crushing their lips together in a kiss that was surely the antithesis of hesitant. Hermione responded immediately, all warm and wet and slightly chapped pressure, making Ginny realize exactly what had been missing from the previous kisses they had shared. It was one thing to kiss Hermione, and another thing to be kissed by her, but to kiss her _while she was kissing you back_ – sheer and utter bliss.

Ginny was absolutely sure, in that moment, that if Hermione had ever kissed more people at Hogwarts, her bookishness wouldn't be the first thing she was known for. _Bloody most fantastic witch in all of Britain,_ Ginny thought_, if not Europe. Hell, the entire world._

At that point Hermione parted her lips slightly and Ginny gladly abandoned that particular train of thought in favor of devoting her full attention to the matter at hand. Ginny ran the tip of her tongue over Hermione's lower lip lightly, and then more insistently, until Hermione's mouth fell open entirely.

"What're you waiting for, an engraved invitation?" Hermione groaned.

"Something like that." It was all Ginny could do to keep the excitement thrumming through her body in check, but she had waited long enough for this moment and she wanted to savor it. She gave Hermione's lip a teasing nip before soothing it with her tongue and then darting inside her mouth. Hermione's tongue met Ginny's in a silken glide and then she _sucked_, urging Ginny on. Ginny complied eagerly, and for a while all Ginny was aware of were the hot recesses of Hermione's mouth, the sound of their ragged breaths, the feel of Hermione's hand cupping her nape and of Hermione's hair bunched under her own.

A drop from a late-freezing icicle fell from the eaves onto the back of Ginny's neck, and Hermione wiped it away. Ginny shivered.

"So," said Hermione after a silence which was for once far from nervous or awkward. Blissful, perhaps. Ginny paused in her perusal of Hermione's delightfully reddened lower lip (trying to determine the best angle from which to instigate another one of those fantastic snogs from, of course) to listen.

"This means we're... girlfriends now, doesn't it?"

Ginny beamed. "Yes!" She should have tried the snogging-her-brains-out approach so long ago.

"I think I like that idea," Hermione said, smiling.

Ginny beamed still wider when Hermione leaned in to capture her lips, and the thread of the conversation was lost for long moments.

"Sorry I took so long to catch on," Hermione said after they had caught their breath again.

Ginny shrugged, still grinning. _As long as you're here now..._ "It's ok. Sorry I assaulted you in the common room that time."

"No, thank you," Hermione said, stroking Ginny's face as if to emphasize her words. "Don't know if it would ever have occurred to me otherwise... so oblivious... and it was hardly assault..." She mumbled the last words into Ginny's neck, and kissed her there softly, right above the neck of her sweater. After that the thread of the conversation got lost again, as Ginny became distracted by the soft curve of Hermione's earlobe _right there,_ practically begging...

Ginny took the soft flesh into her mouth and slid her hands down Hermione's back, pulling her closer. Hermione moaned into Ginny's neck and began attacking it in earnest, kissing and sucking and, oh gods, biting, with an urgency that had not been there before. Ginny was overcome by a wave of desire; she had to have this girl, make her her own, mark her just as she was doing to Ginny...

Abandoning the tempting earlobe for the time being, Ginny nuzzled aside the high collar of Hermione's winter coat and fell eagerly upon the newly bared skin, while her hands ventured still lower. She cupped Hermione's arse and Hermione clung tightly to Ginny, emboldening her to slowly slide her hand around to the front, slipping into the space between their bodies, relishing the anticipation at the same time as the tension grew nearly enough to kill her. She got as far as the half an inch inside the waistband of Hermione's jeans, knuckles just brushing against skin, when she felt Hermione still, breathing heavily.

As though with great effort, Hermione spoke. "Ginny, I..."

Abashed, Ginny stopped. "Sorry! I shouldn't have – was that not ok?"

"No, that was ok." Hermione breathed deeply. "Maybe a bit _too_ ok. Just... can we take it slow?"

"Yeah, whatever you want." Ginny kissed Hermione chastely on the lips and removed her fingers from the jeans. "Just tell me how slow." She slid her hand up until it was splayed on Hermione's stomach. She could feel Hermione's pulse through the thin fabric of her shirt. "This ok?"

Hermione's face was flushed and her eyes bright. "Yeah."

Ginny bunched up the shirt inch by inch and slowly slid her hand underneath, stopping when it occupied the same position as before, only now against flesh covered in tiny goosebumps. "Is this ok?"

Hermione's head dropped to Ginny's shoulder, and she hummed an agreement into the scratchy wool.

Ginny nipped Hermione's earlobe in response and began to slide her hand incrementally upward, wondering how far Hermione would let her go. "Just tell me when to stop..."

She felt Hermione's nod, and continued, nerves jangling with pent-up lust. Ginny didn't know how good she was at going slow, but she'd try, for Hermione's sake. She hesitated despite herself when her fingertips brushed against the hard wire's of Hermione's bra.

"Gods, Ginny, don't stop," Hermione groaned, and she was positively trembling.

So Ginny didn't. She moved her hand further, until she was cupping Hermione's breast, her palm filled with the soft heaviness of it and her fingertips digging into the warm, petal-like swell above the the fabric of the. The hard nub of her nipple pressed into Ginny's palm, and shebrushed her thumb over it experimentally. Hermione sighed in pleasure and Ginny echoed her. _ Figures that they'd feel even better than they look,_ Ginny thought before she slipped her hand across and inside the bra, turning her attention to a more thorough exploration of the other side.

She claimed Hermione's lips in a lingering kiss as she explored, drinking up Hermione's myriad small sounds of pleasure and encouragement. _If I had to pick just one thing to do for the rest of my life, this could very well be it._ Maybe going slowly wouldn't be completely unbearable after all. Ginny twisted a nipple and Hermione stifled a practically orgasmic cry in Ginny's shoulder. Ginny's mind instantly occupied itself with all _other_ things she could possibly do to make Hermione do that again. _Well, maybe only slightly unbearable. _

When Hermione spoke next it was only after the growing cold had forced them to abandon their more adventurous explorations in favor of huddling together as tightly as possible. (Which position, it turned out, involved Ginny's knee between Hermione's legs, so she was more than happy to save further shirtless escapades for some later time – as soon as they got inside, for example.)

"Ginny?"

"Mm?"

"Did you really mean what you said in that note? How do you _know_?"

Ginny shrugged. "I dunno. I just _do_. The rest is all nerves and shite, not worth paying attention to." Ginny looked into Hermione's eyes and grew more serious. "I really do love you." Hermione opened her mouth to speak, looking anxious and resolved at the same time. Ginny laid a quelling finger on her lips. "And that doesn't mean you have to say it back. Remember, I've had since fourth year to work this out."

Hermione smiled and grabbed Ginny's hands where they were resting on her sides. "Did I ever tell you how amazing you are, Ginny Weasley?"

Ginny shook her head, eyes dancing.

"No? Well, how about I tell you up at the castle; it's _freezing_ out here."

--

They were most of the way to the castle, talking excitedly, when Ginny interrupted Hermione mid-sentence.

"Hermione?"

"What?"

"Do you think – do you think that when you come for Easter holidays, you can bring your eyepod?" The words came out in a rush and Ginny's face blazed. Excellent – not only had she just probably scared Hermione off by talking about something so far in the future, she had also managed to acknowledge the existence of a bizarre muggle electronics kink to rival her father's. She was _doomed_.

Hermione eyed Ginny appraisingly. "_Just_ the iPod?"

Ginny cursed the moonlit night, for Hermione had to be able to see exactly how red she was getting. "Noooo...theearphonestoo?"

"Oh, and the earphones too?" Hermione grinned. "It would be my pleasure."

_fin_

So, gah, it's done now. That's all I got! Though of course Ginny and Hermione keep dating and express their undying love for each other and get married and have babies and have mad crazy sex all the time. And it's all hilarious, of course. Or maybe tragedy strikes right after the easter holidays and Hannah kills Hermione in a surprise fit of jealous rage and Ginny parishes from a broken heart. Who even knows! But I'm sticking with the first version; that's how it works out in my book. With babies. And mad hot girlsex. G

Thanks to all of you for being fabulous readers! I can't believe you actually put up with me this whole time.

PS: And, for the people who got hints of some Ron/Harry in chapter 10, yes, you did see what you thought you saw. There's a whole ridiculous backstory and everything, but it'll probably never get written because I compulsively over-commit myself. No time! I guess it just goes to prove that I can't actually write a story with no slash in it. Alas. And now there's more author's notes than story, just like when I first started writing this. The circle completes itself!

Shutting up now.

PPS: Go look at that art and leave lurvely lurvely comments for her. Link on profile page!


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